


Brand New Key

by hopefulminty



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Vampire Slayer, Detectives, Family, Gen, M/M, Not a Crossover, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-07-24 22:51:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 74,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16184837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopefulminty/pseuds/hopefulminty
Summary: He didn’t know what this was. He didn’t know if it was a spell or a curse or a side effect of the crazy monk weed, but there were three things he knew for certain.Number one, Evan Hansen’s cast had been completely blank when he wrote on it. He was positive it had been. He was positive that no one else had signed it before he covered it with his name.Number two, the letter he was holding was not the same letter he had read in the computer lab. That letter hadn’t said a word about someone named Joey.And number three, that boy – the one his brain kept telling him was called Joey, the one grinning as he twirled Connor’s keys around his finger, the one who paused long enough to ask if Connor was coming, the one who rolled his eyes like this was part of his daily routine – was not his brother.In other words, an AU in which the outside world is even stranger than their internal ones could ever dream to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I'm going to blame this story on my co-worker who randomly decided to become obsessed with Katharine McPhee's version of the song _Brand New Key_ this week. After hearing it several times, my brain decided that would make a good title for the idea that's been floating around my head. And, of course, once I had a title, I had to start taking the idea semi-seriously. 
> 
> (FYI, the song itself has nothing to do with this story. So, if you decide to look it up to see if the lyrics hold any clues, you're going to be disappointed.)
> 
> This is sort of the megamix that I warned people about at the end of _Hansen Investigations - Stories_. It will be taking elements from my previous stories (from all of them except _Into the Light_ \- I'm not actually planning to have Hannah Baker haunt the town... at this point, at least). There will also be a dash of Patrick Ness's _The Rest of Us Just Live Here_ too.
> 
> This isn't directly connected to my _Zoe the Vampire Slayer_ series and does not take place in the same universe as _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ , so you don't have to be familiar with either of those things to read this. The characters from the tv show do not exist in this story. I will just be borrowing some of the monsters/plots/supernatural situations from the show, including some that were in ZtVS. (I don't think I'll be able to resist doing another take on _Band Candy_.) 
> 
> Original characters from my other stories will be featured here too since I like them and I'm always lazy when it comes to making new ones. Though, I will say that this story will also have a number of new ones since it's taking place in a universe where a Slayer who wasn't named Buffy brought about events like the ones at the end of _Chosen_. (Which means I get to use some of the Potentials I created for ZtVS that I never got around to introducing.)
> 
> One thing I'm starting to feel I should mention here is that I have a number of weird writing quirks. One of them is that I find it impossible to read other fics featuring the characters I'm writing about. Another one is that I have a tendency to ignore comments while I'm writing. That's not to say that I don't appreciate them. I really, truly do! It's always amazing and encouraging to check my stats and see that people are actually reading and responding to what I'm writing. I just have a weird habit of putting blinders on when it comes to them until I'm done working on something. And even then, it sometimes takes a while before I get around to reading them. 
> 
> I've actually just started binge-reading comments for all of my stories. It's been fun to try to figure out what people were reacting to at different points, but I feel bad because I'm starting to see that people have been trying to ask me questions all along. I'm probably not going to be able to break my no-comments thing with this story, so I'm going to suggest you contact me on Tumblr (hopefulminty) if you have any questions/comments/concerns that you don't want to go unread (by me at least) for several months. I'm thinking that may be the loophole for that particular quirk.
> 
> More tags will be added later on. Rated T for swearing, non-graphic descriptions of violence, and because this fic will touch on some sensitive topics, including suicide/suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and underage drinking/drug use.

Connor was buzzing and not in a good way.

He didn’t know what he’d been thinking. He didn’t know why he’d thought that was a good idea. 

People were assholes. That was a fact. Even the nice ones – the so-called nice ones – were assholes.

His hand flew away from his pocket – from the letter in his pocket – like it had shocked him.

He didn’t need this. He didn’t need any of this. He was so done with this shit that he couldn’t even see straight.

He needed to get out of there. He needed to go home. He needed to go somewhere where he didn’t have to be around other people.

His house would be empty now. He knew that for a fact. Zoe was at Slayer practice and his father was at work and his mother was at book club and...

He grabbed his head as a thought, a random floaty kind of thought – the same random floaty kind of thought that had been poking at him all day, tried to push its way in again. He clenched his teeth and refused to let it win. He didn’t know what that was about. He didn’t know why it kept happening. He didn’t know why the buzzing feeling got stronger every time it did.

He supposed this was what he got for smoking crazy monk weed. The thought thing had started right after he lit up that morning. Part of him was dying to know what had been in the batch the monk had sold him. Part of him really did not want to know.

It was weird. He wasn’t high anymore. He could still feel it though. It still felt like it was in him, like there really was something buzzing around inside him. 

And not in a good way. Definitely not in a good way.

It was kind of funny when he stopped and thought about it. When this was over, he’d probably end up as some kind of cautionary tale. 

Hey kids, don’t smoke crazy monk weed. It really messes with your head.

There were worse ways to become a legend, he supposed.

He would’ve found that hilarious if he was in the mood to find things hilarious. 

He wasn’t though. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with anything or anyone. Which probably explained why it took him a minute to notice the boy yapping away behind him. 

He spun around to glare at the boy. “You talking to me?”

The boy had the audacity to laugh and not in a nervous way. He laughed like he thought Connor was kidding around. 

“You talking to me?” the boy parroted. “You didn’t get the intonation right.”

The boy’s grin widened as he fell into step with Connor. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell Dad or he’ll try to make you watch _Taxi Driver_ again.”

Connor froze because he didn’t know what else to do. Because, seriously, who did this kid think he was? Why was he talking to him like that? Like he knew him? Like they were friends? Like they were...

The boy had said Dad, like they shared a dad, like they were... 

What? Brothers?

That thought made Connor twitch. It made him feel like the floaty thought had finally worked its way in.

That wasn’t possible. Connor didn’t have a brother. He had a sister. 

No, that wasn’t right. That wasn’t completely right. He had a sister and a... 

The buzzing was getting louder. Something was actually buzzing in his head now, a sound in addition to the feeling.

Connor rubbed his forehead like rubbing it would make the buzzing stop. He felt like his brain was being pulled apart. 

The monk really should’ve warned him about this. Wasn’t there a law that said those who sold magical things had to be upfront about what they were selling? He was pretty sure there was.

Of course, he’d been desperate enough that morning that he would’ve smoked the joint no matter what the monk had told him, but it would’ve been nice to know what he was getting himself into.

The monk had probably assumed he knew. He’d probably assumed Connor knew he was in for a weird ride. 

And he was right. Connor had known. He hadn’t known it would be like this though. He’d just assumed he’d want to meditate or talk to animals or whatever that sector of monks was known for. 

He probably should’ve asked before he’d made his purchase. 

The boy was frowning when Connor looked up again. Connor blinked when he saw that because he knew it was strange. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he somehow knew it was unusual for the boy to frown.

The boy grabbed his arm. He grabbed it gently like he was consciously trying not to hurt Connor. He opened his mouth and Connor knew what he was going to say.

He was going to ask if Connor was okay.

Connor shrugged him off with more force than was really necessary. His hand reached up to touch the spot where the boy’s hand had been.

_Joey._ That name popped into his head without warning.

“Jeez, sorry,” the boy muttered. He tilted his head to study Connor. “Did you, uh...”

The boy bit his lip as he stopped in front of Connor. “You did, didn’t you?”

_Joey. His brother. Joey. Zoe’s twin._

Connor shook his head dazedly. “I did what?”

“You’re high again,” the boy sighed. “Seriously, Connor? You know you can’t do that at school. It was bad enough this morning, but-”

Connor tilted his head suspiciously. “Joey?”

The boy laughed awkwardly and glanced around the hall. “Yeah?”

Connor took a step back. He needed to get out of there. This was getting to be too much for him. His head felt like it was about to explode. 

Not literally, he hoped. Of all the ways he’d envisioned dying, his head exploding had never been one of them. He wanted to keep it that way.

He lowered his eyes when he saw the boy’s expression. It was like looking at a puppy who’d just been scolded. “What do you want?”

“A ride home,” Joey said quickly. “You’re going home, aren’t you? Zoe has practice and-”

Joey sighed and held out his hand. “What am I saying? Give me the keys. You can’t drive like this.”

Connor opened his mouth to...

To say what? He wasn’t sure. That he wasn’t high? That he didn’t recognize the guy who seemed to think he was his brother? That he was never smoking crazy monk weed again?

And not just because he was thinking about...

He pushed that thought away and squeezed his eyes shut.

That was a mistake.

A huge mistake.

He didn’t know how long his eyes were closed, but it felt like an eternity. It was like an entire life flashed before his eyes.

And not his.

Joey’s. 

It came to him in flashes. He saw himself toddling after his parents when they brought two babies home from the hospital. He saw family vacations and birthdays and holidays. He saw pranks and games and fights. He saw a brother who used to follow him around and copy everything he did.

He felt it all. It was like a tidal wave of emotions. He couldn’t pinpoint them all. Anger, annoyance, amusement... 

And those were just the A’s. 

He opened his eyes and leaned against the locker behind him. 

He didn’t know how he hadn’t seen it before.

Joey had his mother’s eyes and his father’s chin and...

And he was wearing Connor’s shirt.

Connor felt dizzy when he noticed that.

Joey’s eyes widened when he saw the way Connor was glaring at him. “Mom gave it to me this morning. She was packing things up for Goodwill and I asked her if I could have it. You know I always liked this shirt and she said it doesn’t fit you anymore and...”

Joey’s voice trailed off as he nodded at something down the hall. His face lit up for a moment before it scrunched up with concern. “Hey... What’s wrong?”

Connor looked over his shoulder to see Evan Hansen approaching them.

Cautiously approaching them, like he was seriously considering bolting in the opposite direction.

He didn’t though. Connor watched as he sucked in a breath and made a beeline for them.

“I need that letter back,” Evan sputtered. “Please. It’s important and I-I need it, okay? I need it. It’s not yours. And it’s not what you think. I wasn’t... It wasn’t... It’s for my, uh, my... It’s for Dr. Sherman. It’s not-”

Joey’s mouth formed a thin line as he turned to face Connor. “You took one of his therapy letters?”

His voice was so quiet that Connor wasn’t sure he’d heard him right. 

Connor kept his eyes down as he pulled the letter out of his pocket to look at it again. His eyes went straight to the part that had made his blood boil.

_At least there’s Joey. At least I have one friend in this school, even if I never get to see him. We’re not in the same grade. We don’t have any classes together. We don’t even have the same lunch period this year._

_But still. At least I have a friend. It’s like Joey said. It could be worse. We could be friendless pathetic losers instead of just being the regular kind._

Connor rubbed his eyes. He kept them focused on the page while Joey apologized to Evan, while he tried to lighten the mood by saying that they’d have to get Zoe to sign Evan’s cast so that he’d have the full set.

He ignored that. He ignored the fact that this was the second time that day that one of his siblings was apologizing to Evan Hansen on his behalf.

Shit.

Connor’s head popped up when that thought occurred to him. 

He watched them walk down the hall. His heart did a flip when he heard Joey offer Evan a ride to his doctor’s appointment. 

His hands twitched as he reached into his backpack. His keys were gone. He didn’t know when, he didn’t know how, but Joey had managed to get his hands on them.

Like that was something he did all the time. Like he’d perfected the art of stealing from Connor.

Connor shook his head as he studied the letter again. 

The flurry of conflicting memories and emotions swirling around his head was making him feel sick. 

He didn’t know what this was. He didn’t know if it was a spell or a curse or a side effect of the crazy monk weed, but there were three things he knew for certain.

Number one, Evan Hansen’s cast had been completely blank when he wrote on it. He was positive it had been. He was positive that no one else had signed it before he covered it with his name.

Number two, the letter he was holding was not the same letter he had read in the computer lab. That letter hadn’t said a word about someone named Joey. 

And number three, that boy – the one his brain kept telling him was called Joey, the one grinning as he twirled Connor’s keys around his finger, the one who paused long enough to ask if Connor was coming, the one who rolled his eyes like this was part of his daily routine – was not his brother.


	2. Chapter 2

Zoe knew something was wrong when she saw that she had a text from Joey. A single text, not a text explosion. Her brother was infamous for his text explosions. He always either stayed silent or flooded her phone with his every thought. There was no in between.

_Connor’s acting weird._

Zoe’s suspicions were confirmed when she saw what the text said. A single text that said something negative about Connor? She wondered if there was an apocalypse brewing somewhere.

She bit her lip as she wrote, _So what else is new?_

She put her phone away because she didn’t want to see Joey’s reaction. She didn’t have time to read the explosion of texts that was surely heading her way. Lena was standing up, which meant that the meeting was about to begin.

Zoe twisted herself around so that she was facing the front of the room. She looked away when her eyes accidentally landed on Nicole. She was not ready to deal with that yet. She wasn’t even close to being ready.

She turned around again when she saw that Mr. Benson – Bennie, he was known as Bennie when he was in Watcher-mode – was trying to get her attention. She wasn’t in the mood for that either. She could feel herself deflate as she looked around the room. There weren’t any other musicians there. She’d been hoping there’d be at least one in this batch of Slayers. It would’ve been nice to have someone else for Bennie to bounce ideas off of whenever they had some downtime. 

She jumped when she felt someone whack her back. Fiona. Of course, it was Fiona. No one else in the group thought that was an appropriate way to greet someone.

“Why are you sitting in the pit?” Fiona asked. She smirked as she nodded at the chairs lined up behind Lena. “Come on. You’re one of the big girls now.”

Zoe reluctantly followed her to the front. She wasn’t ready for this either. She wasn’t ready to be seen as one of the Senior Slayers.

She knew she was one though. Technically, she was one. It had been over a year since she’d been called. She’d handled more patrols, clocked more battle time, than the majority of the girls there. 

She took a seat between Fiona and Sam. She pulled herself up to her full height when she sensed Nicole watching her. She willed herself to look calm, cool, and collected. She wrinkled her nose when she heard Fiona laughing at her.

“What’s with the face?” Fiona snorted.

Zoe folded her arms across her chest and slumped down in her seat.

“Chip?” Sam offered. They waved their bag in front of her.

Zoe happily helped herself to a handful of garlic parmesan pita chips. “Thanks.”

Sam nodded slightly and waved the bag at Fiona.

Fiona batted it away. “You know you can’t actually kill a vampire with garlic breath, don’t you?”

Sam shrugged and gestured at Lena as she stepped away from the Watchers and made her way back to the podium. The room fell silent as she took her place.

“All right, ladies,” Lena called. She looked over her shoulder and grinned. “And Sam.”

Sam rolled their eyes and ate another chip. Fiona brushed her hand through her hair in a way that allowed her to subtly flip Lena off.

Lena’s grin widened when she saw that. “Welcome to all Slayers old and new. Since we’re at the start of a new school year-”

Lena paused until the Slayers catcalling behind her settled down.

“I know, I know.” Lena’s hands flew up defensively. “We have a record number of newbies here today though, so we have to do this!”

She turned around to fix the Senior Slayers with her most angelic smile. “You don’t have to listen if you don’t want to.”

“And miss the part where you compare us to a bunch of roach killers?” Kirsten heckled.

“Oh, shush,” Lena scolded. “Don’t go and ruin my best bits!”

Lena beamed beatifically at the newcomers. “Okay, so you all know the story, right? You’ve heard the spiel. ‘Into every generation, there is a chosen one. One girl in all the world. She alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. To stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer.’”

Lena rocked back on her heels as she scanned the audience. “That’s how it used to be.”

Lena stepped away from the podium and started to stroll around the room. “That’s how it was for, oh... I don’t know. I barely managed to pass history when I went here.”

She stopped and looked at the Watchers expectantly. She didn’t give them a chance to respond before continuing her speech.

“That’s how it was forever, basically. Until that fateful night twenty-five years ago when the Slayer, Candy Winters, decided that the only way to save the world was to have her witchy friends do a spell that would turn every girl with the potential to be the Slayer into a Slayer.”

Lena came to a stop in the middle of the circle. “That’s right, ladies. A Slayer. That’s why there’s no longer a Chosen One. Instead, there are now millions-”

“Thousands,” Bennie corrected.

“Thousands,” Lena amended snidely. “Thousands of girls around the world who have been chosen for this.”

Lena put a hand on her hip and turned to scowl at the Watchers. “Shouldn’t it be millions though? There’ve been a buttload of Slayers in the last twenty-five years. There still are if you count the ones that are too old to fight now.”

Lena smiled mischievously as she nodded at the women standing in the back of the classroom. “I’m not referring to you ladies, of course. You could totally kick my ass if you wanted to.”

“Damn straight we could,” Maggie called. She shook her head as she elbowed the woman standing next to her.

Zoe waved sheepishly when she caught Heidi Hansen’s eye. It always kind of weirded her out when she ran into Evan’s mom at these things.

Lena’s face scrunched up as she flexed her hands in front of her. “Where was I? Okay, so there are lots of Slayers now. Lots of Slayers all over the place. We’re lucky because Stormyvale has always had one of the biggest Slayer populations in the world. Our lovely Watchers over there think it’s because of the Hellmouth. It’s the one good thing it’s ever done for us.

“So, if you’re here, it’s because the fates have decided that you were destined to be here. Because the spell that Candy’s friends cast keeps churning out Slayers. It activates them at the appropriate moment. Whatever that means.”

Lena couldn’t hide her amusement as she looked at the newcomers who were gawking at her. “Think of it as your mystical period. Some girls get it early, like me for example. I’m up here because I’ve been doing this the longest. I was called six years ago, when I was only thirteen. Other girls are like Melanie over there and don’t get it until they’re-”

Bennie cleared his throat and motioned for Lena to move on.

Lena narrowed her eyes at him. “You know, for someone who decided to work in a field that’s full of females-”

“Lena,” Raquel cautioned.

Lena’s mouth snapped shut when she heard Raquel’s tone. At least there was one Watcher who could always manage to keep Lena in line.

“Fine,” Lena groaned. “So, you’re here because you were chosen.”

She chewed her lip as she studied the girls again. “So, now what? Well, for starters, we’re going to have to train you all.”

She jerked a thumb in the Watchers’ direction. “That’s what they’re for. You know that part, don’t you? Is there anyone who doesn’t know what a Watcher is?”

“You mean is there anyone who has been paying even less attention to their history lessons than you did?” Raquel retorted. She smiled patiently as she looked at the new Slayers. “We’re here to help you. That’s our job. Part of that job means training you, but it also means helping with the research and the battles and-”

Raquel raised an eyebrow when Lena scoffed at that. “Is there a problem, Lena?”

“Nope, no problem. No problem whatsoever,” Lena said quickly. She absentmindedly twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “So, you may be wondering how this is going to affect your day-to-day life. I’m not going to lie. It’s going to change a lot. Thanks to Ava Moore, we’re no longer a secret.”

The reaction was instantaneous, as it always was when someone mentioned Ava Moore.

“I love Ava!”

“Did you hear her new single _Slay Me in the Heart_? It’s amazing!”

“She’s so overrated. Dora Keats is so much better!”

“Ladies!” Lena boomed.

Zoe snorted when she heard how authoritative Lena sounded. She wasn’t the only one. Fiona and Sam both looked like they were on the verge of laughing hysterically.

“Ava was so brave when she killed that demon on live tv,” one of the girls in the back whispered. She clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized that she was the only one still talking.

Lena folded her arms across her chest and shifted her weight from foot to foot. “I’m only going to say this once. What Ava Moore did was a publicity stunt, pure and simple. Her singing career was failing and she decided that the best way to make a comeback would be to show off her Slayer skills on national tv. It was an incredibly selfish, incredibly stupid move that has ruined countless lives and changed everything for us.”

Lena narrowed her eyes like she was daring one of the girls to proclaim that they would always love Ava, no matter what she did.

No one said a word.

“Thanks to Ava, people know about us. They know about demons and witches and all of it.” Lena squeezed her eyes shut and took a breath. “Some of you are so young that you may not remember what it was like before Ava did her thing.”

“It was five years ago,” one of the newcomers snapped. “Not fifty.”

Lena glared at the girl like she wanted to melt her. “Okay, fine. So, you remember what it was like before this all came out. You can’t really know though. You can’t really-”

“Lena,” Raquel urged softly.

“We have to register now,” Lena blurted out. “We didn’t have to do that when I was first called. The government keeps tabs on us. They think we’re dangerous.”

“We are dangerous,” Kirsten muttered.

“Some people think we’re dangerous. Some people think we’re really dangerous. That we’re...” Lena’s voice cracked as she started to blink rapidly.

Zoe’s stomach did a flip when she heard that. She glanced around at the other Senior Slayers. They all knew what that was about. They all knew how Lena’s family had kicked her out when they found out what she was. They all knew how Raquel had taken her in because she had nowhere else to go.

Lena’s eyes were wide when she looked up again. “But, hey, look on the bright side. If you make it to twenty-five, the government will give you ten thousand dollars. Assuming the grants don’t run out before then, that is.”

Lena chewed on her lip as she made her way back to the podium. The room fell silent while she collected her thoughts. 

“You haven’t said the bug thing yet,” Kirsten reminded her.

Lena gave Kirsten a grateful smile. “Right, okay, so like I said, some people think we’re dangerous. Because powerful women are always dangerous. Other people think we’re superheroes. They really do. They think we’re freaking superheroes.”

She laughed as she pushed her hair behind her ears. “And then there are the people who think we’re glorified exterminators and the ones who think we’re murderers. They’re the ones you have to watch out for. They’re the ones who believe in vampire rights and think that it’s possible to redeem all the soulless demons out there.”

Lena turned around to meet Cara’s stare. “Notice I said all, so you don’t have to tell us about how there are some vampires that really just want to be loved!”

“Shut up,” Cara mumbled under her breath. 

Lena blew her a kiss before facing the new Slayers again. “So, yeah, things are going to change for you. The one good thing about the whole Ava debacle is that we have a pretty good support system now. We have the Slaymate club here that all of your friends and classmates are welcome to join. And last year, we started a, uh...”

Lena chuckled as she caught Zoe’s eye. Zoe shook her head when Lena’s laughter didn’t subside. Moments like this made her think that Lena had the same sense of humor as Connor.

“My mom started the Parents of Slayers club,” Zoe filled in. She bit her lip when Lena continued to laugh. It was enough to make her want to laugh too, even if it did annoy her every time Connor refused to let up about the other thing P.O.S. was an acronym for.

“So, see Zoe if your parents want to join that,” Lena finished. She took a breath and looked around at her audience again. She smiled when she saw them staring at her with a mixture of excitement and fear and confusion. “I think that’s enough for now. Are there any questions?”


	3. Chapter 3

“How long have you two been friends?”

“Since last September.”

“How did you meet?”

“What?”

“How did you-”

“What’s with the interrogation?”

“What? I can’t take an interest in my brother and his friend?”

There was something about the way Connor said the word ‘friend’ that made Evan feel uneasy. He swallowed dryly and reached for the door handle. He hesitated long enough to nod at Joey. “Thanks for the ride.”

“You want us to wait for you?” Joey offered.

Evan’s eyes widened because that was the last thing he wanted. The thought of getting back in the car and dealing with...

Whatever this was. He didn’t know what to make of it. He didn’t think he’d ever heard Connor talk this much. 

“Your appointment’s an hour, right?” Joey went on. “We’ll be across the street. I need to pick up some supplies from the magic shop.”

“You use magic?” Connor demanded. His tone was so sharp that Evan had to force himself not to flinch.

Joey shook his head at his brother. “Dude, seriously, what is going on with you today?”

Connor grabbed his bag and climbed out of the car without saying another word.

Joey let out an awkward chuckle as he turned around to look at Evan. “We’re finishing _Atypical_ tonight, aren’t we? We only have three episodes left.”

“Yeah, uh, sure,” Evan shrugged.

“Sorry about Connor,” Joey sighed. “I don’t know what his problem is.”

Evan didn’t know what to say to that. He knew Joey would freak if he told him about the computer lab. He knew Joey would confront Connor and try to make him apologize to Evan. He knew that would not go over well at all.

“He signed your cast,” Joey observed. He snorted as he looked at Evan’s arm. “That’s just...”

“It’s fine,” Evan said quickly. He reached for the handle again. “I need to-”

Joey nodded curtly. “You know where to find us.”

 

He didn’t need to find them because they found him. Well, Connor did. Evan stopped short when he saw that. He looked around for Joey and cursed his friend’s falafel addiction when he spotted him at the food truck down the street.

“What did you do?” Connor hissed.

Evan blinked and looked around uncertainly. “What?”

“Is this a spell or a wish or what?”

Evan nervously tugged at his shirt. “What’re you talking about?”

“Joey. Why is he here? Where did he come from?”

“Um,” Evan laughed. “Are you asking me where babies come from?”

Connor narrowed his eyes. “Don’t play dumb. What are you, like, so lonely that you wished Joey into existence?”

Evan’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to process what Connor was saying. He’d always known that Joey’s brother was...

Not weird. He didn’t think he’d ever heard anyone refer to Connor as weird. Angry, scary, dangerous, sure. Joey called him difficult. Zoe said he was a mess. A monstrous, self-destructive mess.

Evan had never spent enough time with him to formulate his own opinion. He’d kind of hoped he’d never end up in a position where he would have to.

He craned his neck to look down the street. Joey was chatting with the guys running the food truck. Of course, he was.

“’Because there’s Zoe. And all my hope is pinned on Zoe. Who I don’t even know and who doesn’t know me,’” Connor said harshly. “What’s your deal? Why do you have some weird fixation with my family?”

Evan’s face felt numb as he stared at Connor. It wasn’t unusual for him to have no idea what to say, but it was unusual for him to be this confused. 

He repeated Connor’s words inside his head. He tried to wrap his mind around them. They didn’t mean anything to him, though he could tell Connor thought they should. 

“I...” Evan began. 

“You didn’t think I’d remember, did you?”

Evan shook his head dazedly. “Remember what?”

“The letter changed.”

“The...” Evan shook his head again. The letter? His letter? Was that what this was about? “I-I don’t-”

“Forget it,” Connor snapped. “I’ll figure it out on my own.”

Evan wanted to ask what he meant. He wanted to ask what Connor thought he had done.

That was a dumb question. It was clear that Connor thought he’d cast a spell of some kind. A spell that had brought Joey to life. 

And that was just... Evan didn’t know what that was. He didn’t know what to make of that. He wondered if someone had cast a memory spell on Connor. He also wondered if there was some truth to what Connor thought had happened. He hated to think that there could be. He hated to think there was a chance that Joey wasn’t real. He knew it was possible though. It wouldn’t be the strangest thing he’d heard that week. 

And was it really that strange? What was stranger – the idea that Evan actually had a friend or the idea that his friend was part of a spell?

He wanted to tell Connor that he didn’t cast spells like that. He wanted to say that his mother was a Slayer, that she had taught him not to mess with dark magic before she taught him the alphabet. He wanted to say that he only knew a few basic protection spells, the ones his mother had insisted he learn.

He didn’t say any of those things. He kept his mouth shut because his mind was spinning so fast he knew anything he attempted to say would come out in gibberish. 

He kept his mouth shut until he couldn’t keep it shut anymore. It only took a minute for his curiosity to get the better of him.

“You don’t think Joey’s real?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, you said you think I wished him into existence. So, same thing, pretty much.” Evan took a moment to let his thoughts settle down. “Okay, so ignoring the fact that you don’t think your brother’s real-”

“He’s not my brother,” Connor blurted out. He squeezed his shoulder strap when he realized what he’d said.

“Okay, so ignoring the fact that you’re under a spell or high on something weird-” Evan paused when he saw how the word ‘high’ had made Connor flinch. He swallowed a smile when he realized he’d struck a nerve.

“Ignoring all that,” Evan continued. “Don’t you think I’d wish for a better life than this? A life where I had more than one friend? A life where I...” He bit his lip as he looked at his arm. He didn’t think he needed to spell that one out for Connor.

Connor’s face went blank as he stared Evan down. “Some people are less greedy than others.”

“True,” Evan said slowly. “But, seriously, don’t you think I’d... I don’t know. I’d wish I was popular or rich or-”

“Going out with my sister?”

Evan bristled at that. He took a step back when he saw the way Connor was smirking at him. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true,” Connor grinned. “Because your letter – your original letter-”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Evan said shrilly. He forced himself to keep talking when he saw that Connor was obviously amused by his denial. “Okay, so I used to think Zoe was kind of, uh...”

He closed his mouth when he spotted Joey walking towards them. He fidgeted with his backpack and hoped his face didn’t betray him.

Joey took a bite of his sandwich as he looked at the two of them. “You guys should get something too. Mom’s making cabbage stew for dinner.”

“I’m not hungry,” Connor said shortly.

Evan lowered his eyes to avoid Joey’s gaze. “Me neither. Can you drop me off at my mom’s office actually? I forgot I was supposed to work tonight.”

“But _Atypical_ ,” Joey whined. “Don’t you want to see if Casey and Izzie get together?”

He wiggled his eyebrows like he thought that was a major selling point.

“Rain check,” Evan said apologetically.

Joey nodded resignedly. “Okay, fine. Tomorrow then.”

“Tomorrow,” Evan promised.

 

He didn’t really have to work. That had been a spontaneous lie because he didn’t feel like going to the Murphys’ house. He didn’t feel like continuing his conversation with Connor. And he definitely didn’t feel like debating whether Joey was real.

He was surprised the lie had worked. Not because it wasn’t believable. Joey never questioned it when Evan said he needed to work. He knew that Evan took his job at his mother’s detective agency seriously.

He was surprised he’d been able to say it without stammering or twitching or doing something that gave him away. He supposed that proved how desperate he was to get away from Joey and Connor.

He wanted to talk to his mother about this. He knew she had experience with this kind of thing. A girl she’d gone to high school with had caused a lot of chaos when she accidentally brought her childhood imaginary friend to life. People still talked about the month Stormyvale had been ruled by a talking purple guinea pig named Miles. 

He wasn’t sure if that was what this was. He wasn’t even sure that it was anything at all. He knew enough about Connor to know that it was likely that Connor’s confusion had been caused by something he’d smoked.

But he also knew what life was like on the Hellmouth. If there was even a chance that something was up with Joey, then he had to do something about it.

All thoughts of discussing the matter with his mother disappeared when he opened the door to her office.

She had a full house in there. A house full of her Slayer friends. She really didn’t need him to help out that day at all.

At least they were working. Evan was relieved when he saw that. They’d been having a happy hour gathering the last time he’d walked in on them like this. He’d been forced to sit there while they regaled him with tales of sewer demons and evil warlocks and troll gods. It wouldn’t have been that bad if he’d been able to understand the stories, but they spent the night slurring their words and jumping from tale to tale so quickly that he was never sure how any of them ended.

They were in research-mode this time though, so he knew he didn’t have to worry about that. He maneuvered his way through the crowd until he reached his mother’s desk. She was idly tapping a pencil against her cheek as she stared at the screen.

“Another missing girl?” Evan asked.

Heidi nodded slightly. “This one isn’t a Slayer.”

Evan’s eyes widened at that. “Is she-”

“Or a witch or a demon or anything but human as far as I can tell.”

Evan glanced around the room at the other Slayers. He nodded at the one frowning as she tried to work the copier. “She’s new.”

“That’s Lena,” Heidi said. “Raquel asked me to give her a shot. She wants her to see that Slayers can have real jobs.”

“My job is a real job!” Lena called from across the room.

“What does she do?” Evan asked curiously.

Heidi waved her hand dismissively. “Can you go help June? She thinks her computer is possessed.”

Evan didn’t bother saying that he wouldn’t be any help with that. He’d been down this road enough times to know that June had probably minimized the window she thought she’d lost.

He went to grab a donut after he helped June reopen all of her tabs. One of the perks of having an office full of Slayers was that it meant they actually had food laying around for a change. 

“My job is a real job.”

Evan blinked when he realized that Lena was talking to him. He nodded reassuringly. “I’m sure it is.”

“It is,” Lena insisted. “It’s my choice to dance in the cage!”

Evan was glad his mouth wasn’t full at that moment because he was sure he would’ve choked.

“So, you’re the son,” Lena continued.

“The son?” Evan repeated.

“Yeah,” Lena nodded. “You’re the proof that Slayers can have it all.”

Something about her tone, about the fact that she emphasized her words with jazz hands, made him think that she wasn’t being entirely serious.

It still stung though. It stung whenever he was reminded of the fact that people thought his family proved that Slayers could grow up and lead normal lives.

They didn’t see it all though. They didn’t know the whole story. Sure, his mother ran a respectable detective agency. Sure, she had a steady income and managed to employ other Slayers. Sure, she’d managed to resist the urge to become a bodyguard or a professional mud wrestler or any of the other slightly demeaning jobs that semi-retired Slayers usually took.

She was her own person and he knew that was something worth celebrating.

People didn’t see how her marriage had crumbled because of her so-called destiny though. They didn’t see how her job kept her out at all hours, how it kept her away from her son. They didn’t see how worried Evan was whenever she disappeared for days without warning. They didn’t see any of that.

And that was probably for the best. Evan didn’t think he actually wanted them to see how things really were. 

It didn’t stop it from stinging whenever he remembered that his mother was the poster girl for well-adjusted Slayers though.

He was glad when he saw that Lena had wandered off. It gave him a moment to breathe, to decide on his next move.

He didn’t see any reason for him to stay there. He had homework to finish and his mother obviously didn’t need any help.

He tried to catch her eye, but she was too busy showing something to Maggie to notice. He took that as his cue to go. He pocketed another donut and set out into the night without bothering to say goodbye.


	4. Chapter 4

Connor spent the next few days watching Joey. He was determined to get to the bottom of this, to see if Joey was real, to make sure he wasn’t actually an evil demon plotting to kill them all while they slept. 

He tried to be subtle about it at first. Casual glances out of the corner of his eye, some mild digital stalking, pointed questions that were worded so that they sounded normal.

It didn’t take him long to realize that he didn’t have to bother trying to be subtle though. No one was paying attention to him. His parents only checked in when they sensed that something was seriously wrong and Zoe was too preoccupied to care.

And it was easy to tell Joey was flattered by the attention. At least it seemed that way to Connor. 

Which made sense when he considered the memories that kept trying to worm their way into his brain. The memories of a kind, sweet, loving brother that didn’t quite jibe with what his gut was trying to tell him.

The memories that were making him feel like he was constantly in that half-asleep, half-awake state where he wasn’t sure what was real and what had been a dream. 

He didn’t know how to explain it. He wasn’t even sure what it was.

He was really only sure of one thing. He was almost a hundred percent sure that Evan Hansen had not caused it. Not knowingly. Not on purpose. And he was almost positive that Evan hadn’t caused it accidentally either. 

Because, if he was being honest, he couldn’t imagine anyone wishing for Evan Hansen’s life. Not even by mistake.

The more he watched, the more certain he became.

Joey seemed to be Evan’s only friend. His only real friend. Connor overheard Jared Kleinman refer to himself as Evan’s “family friend” one day. Whatever that meant.

Evan kept to himself. He kept his head down most of the time and hovered on the edge of the crowd like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself, like he thought there was no way he’d ever fit in.

Connor couldn’t imagine wishing to be like that. He couldn’t imagine...

It wasn’t that he was watching Evan. He was quick to assure himself that wasn’t the case. 

It was just that watching Joey also meant keeping an eye on the people he hung out with. And by people, he meant person. Evan was the only person outside of their family that Joey ever seemed to talk to.

Which really didn’t make sense at all.

Joey was nice. He was friendly and nice and didn’t seem at all like the kind of guy who would be an outsider at school.

Which led Connor to his next theory.

Maybe Joey wasn’t there because of something Evan had wished for.

Maybe he was there because of Connor.

Joey had appeared when Connor was at his lowest, when he was feeling the worst he’d felt in months, when he was thinking things that he knew he shouldn’t be thinking. 

Maybe he was there to take Connor’s place. To be the son his parents had always wanted, the brother Zoe deserved to have. Maybe some benevolent genie thought that was Connor’s last wish, for his family to have someone like Joey. Someone helpful and polite. Someone who listened to them and took an interest in their lives. Someone who never gave them reason to be concerned.

Maybe this was the Hellmouth’s way of taunting him. Maybe Joey was there to show Connor that he was right. That he wouldn’t be missed. That his family really would be better off without him. 

Or maybe Joey was real and Connor was just confused. Maybe this had all been caused by the crazy monk weed. Maybe he was making something out of nothing. It wouldn’t be the first time that had happened.

 

His heart sped up when he saw the car in their driveway. He glanced at Joey and knew that his brother recognized it too.

His brother. He wondered if he would ever be able to say those words without feeling dizzy.

“Aunt Jamie’s here!” Joey exclaimed as they walked up to the house. “Did you know she was back?”

Connor shook his head. She’d mentioned that she’d be home soon in her last email, but that had been almost a month ago. And she’d been saying that for the last six months. He’d finally come to the conclusion that his aunt had no idea when she’d be returning to Stormyvale.

He followed Joey into the kitchen and watched his mother bicker with her sister.

“I wish you’d called first,” Cynthia sighed. “I’ve already started prepping our dinner and-”

“So serve it tomorrow night,” Jamie shrugged. 

“It’s not that simple,” Cynthia insisted. She frowned as Joey made a beeline for the pizza and helped himself to a slice. “Don’t spoil your appetite.”

Joey grinned with his mouth full. “Hey, Aunt Jamie.”

“Hey, kiddos,” Jamie beamed. She punched Connor’s shoulder as he walked past her. “No Zoe?”

Joey wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “She has practice.”

Jamie nodded knowingly. “Slayer or band?”

“Band,” Joey replied. He grabbed a soda from the fridge and popped it open

Cynthia shook her head as she watched her sons. “How was school?”

Connor leaned back against the counter and nibbled on his pizza while Joey launched into an extremely detailed description of his day.

It took all of his willpower not to roll his eyes. It was official. There was no way that boy was human.

Or an actual Murphy.

Connor zoned out as Joey talked about a pop quiz he’d had in French. He was convinced Zoe was going to get a better grade than him because he’d forgotten the word for ‘bridge.’

Joey hung his head sadly. “Which means I’ll be on dish duty next week.”

Connor glanced at Jamie out of the corner of his eye. He tried to gauge her reaction to all of this. To Joey, specifically.

He knew better than to tell his parents about his suspicions. He knew they would take that as proof that he’d graduated from weed to harder drugs. He knew they’d think he’d lost his mind completely.

But his aunt who had been a practicing witch since she was in high school, who was considered an expert by those in the know, who travelled around the world helping people with their supernatural problems...

If anyone could detect that something was up with Joey, it would be Jamie.

Connor clenched his teeth and breathed in through his nose when it became clear that she didn’t suspect a thing.

Jamie was a lot of things, but an actress was not one of them.

He tried not to lose hope. If he could get her alone, he could tell her what he knew. What he thought he knew. He could spell it out for her and see if she thought he was right to be concerned.

He didn’t know if that would work. He didn’t know if she’d take his word for it. He trusted her not to have him committed for thinking that his brother might not be real though.

 

It didn’t take long for Connor to get his chance. As luck would have it, his father’s car broke down on the side of the road, forcing his mother to go pick him up.

And Joey had homework. He grabbed another slice of pizza and excused himself to go finish his lab report.

Connor didn’t waste any time. He started talking as soon as Joey turned his music on. He told her about the crazy monk weed. He told her that Evan’s letter and cast changed after Joey tracked him down. He told her how he couldn’t tell what was real anymore, how he had all these confusing memories and feelings that didn’t make sense. He told her that his gut told him Joey wasn’t really his brother.

He waited for her to laugh or scoff or do something that made him feel ridiculous for confiding in her.

She didn’t though. She squinted at him for a moment before nodding slowly. “That would explain the surge.”

“The surge?” Connor blinked.

Jamie nodded again. “Do you think you could recognize the monk if you saw him again?”

“Maybe?” Connor shrugged. “I don’t know. They all kind of look the same to me.”

“Could you recognize his robes at least?”

“Probably,” Connor said uncertainly.

“Okay,” Jamie said. She tapped her chin and fell silent as the front door flew open. She smiled stiffly when Zoe ran into the room to give her a hug.

Connor forced himself to stay calm while Jamie and Zoe caught up. He forced himself not to bark at Zoe that she needed to get out of there and leave them alone.

Luckily for him, Zoe had homework too. She made Jamie promise to come to her next training session before running off to steal Joey’s chemistry notes. 

Connor looked at his aunt expectantly. “So, what now? Are we going to go monk-hunting?”

Jamie nodded slightly. “But we have to make a stop first.”

 

They stopped at a nondescript building in the middle of town. Connor frowned as he tried to figure out what they were doing there. He opened his mouth to ask, only to freeze when he saw the sign.

_Hansen Investigations_

Hansen. As in...

It couldn’t be.

Except it was. Connor tilted his head when he saw Evan sitting at the desk across from the door. He didn’t know which one of them was more surprised to see the other.

“Hi, Evan,” Jamie greeted brightly. “Is your mom in?”

Evan shook his head dazedly. “She had to, uh, to go out. On a case. She’s working a case.”

“Anything I should know about?”

Evan lowered his head as he fumbled with his pen. “No... Not unless you’re keeping tabs on cheating husbands now too.”

“Anything to pay the bills, huh?” Jamie grinned. She nodded at the computer in front of Evan. “Maybe you can help us then. Does your mom still have the best database in town?”

“That depends on what you mean by the best,” Evan said quickly. “She has records of all the known vampire nests and witches and-”

“And monks?” Connor filled in with a knowing nod.

Evan blinked at them. “Monks?”

“We’re looking for a particular monk,” Jamie explained. “You think you can help us?”

“I guess?” Evan muttered. He clicked the mouse for a minute before turning the screen so they could see. “Do you know which order he’s in?”

“Do you have any pictures?” Connor asked. He leaned across the desk to scroll through the gallery. He jabbed his finger at a monk in the middle of the spread. “There. That one. That’s not him, but he wore a robe like that one.”

“The Order of Dagon,” Jamie read. She glanced at Evan again. “Any idea where we can find them?”

Evan studied the screen a moment before clicking twice. He scribbled something on a scrap of paper and handed it to Jamie. 

“What’s this about?” Evan asked curiously. 

Jamie bit her lip as she looked at Connor. Connor really wished she hadn’t done that because it seemed to tell Evan what he wanted to know.

“Joey?” Evan whispered. “Is this because you think he...”

“Thanks for your help,” Jamie said calmly. She stood to go and nodded for Connor to do the same.

Evan pushed away from the desk and stumbled after them. “Wait! I want to come with you!”

He looked around wildly like he expected them to argue. “Joey’s my best friend. My-my only friend. My only real... I should be there. I-”

Connor shrugged when Jamie caught his eye. It didn’t matter to him if Evan tagged along. It really, truly did not matter at all.

“Don’t you have to cover the desk?” Jamie reminded him.

Evan scratched his neck as he eyed the phone. “I was going to leave soon anyway. Mom never likes me to stay here by myself at night. I just need to transfer the phones and lock up.”

Jamie exchanged a look with Connor and sighed.

“Okay,” she agreed. “We’ll wait outside.”

 

The monks were right where Evan had thought they’d be. They were holed up in an abandoned house in the woods. 

They didn’t seem surprised to see the three of them. In fact, Connor was fairly certain that they’d been expecting something like this to happen. He was also fairly certain that he understood what they were saying, even though they weren’t speaking to each other in English.

He was fluent in the language of familial disagreements after all. It was easy to see that the monk who had sold him the weed was getting a major lecture from his brothers.

They all sat down to have tea and biscuits when that was done. Connor leaned back and tried to pay attention as the chief monk started going on about balls of energy and other dimensions and...

Connor was seriously starting to wonder what was in the tea. He sniffed it and decided not to drink any more. He raised his eyebrows at Evan in a silent attempt to urge him to do the same.

Jamie didn’t notice, but she hadn’t touched her tea at all. She was too busy listening and nodding intently as the monks talked. It was enough to make Connor think that he really should’ve forced himself to focus on what they were saying.

“So, you mean Joey’s the Key now?” Evan blurted out. “He can unlock the door to all the other dimensions out there?”

Connor sat up straight when he heard that. “Wait, what? Didn’t you just say the Key’s an ancient ball of energy?”

Jamie shook her head at him like she could tell exactly when he’d stopped listening. “They transformed the Key into a human to hide it from the people who want to use it for their own gain.”

“Joey,” Evan breathed. “They turned it into Joey.”

Connor felt numb as he let that sink in. Part of him felt vindicated, part of him felt confused, and part of him felt something he couldn’t pinpoint.

“Does he know?” Evan whispered.

The chief monk shook his head. “No. As far as he’s concerned, he’s always been Joseph Cooper Murphy.”

“Why us?” Connor demanded. “Why did you send him to us specifically?”

“He needs protection,” the chief monk explained. “We thought it would be best to put him in a Slayer’s home.”

“And in a family with a witch,” another monk added. “We altered all of your memories so that you would believe Joey is yours.”

Connor narrowed his eyes at the monk who had sold him the weed. “You wanted me to remember, didn’t you? You wanted me to figure it out.”

The chief monk nodded solemnly. “There was some disagreement about how this should be handled. Brother Eli believed that we should be upfront about it. He thought it was in the Key’s best interest if your family knew from the start. That is why he sold you a product infused with herbs that would help block our spell.”

“And I made a pretty penny on it too,” Brother Eli cackled. He looked down when two of his brothers glared at him. “Not the time...”

Evan’s mouth formed a thin line as he studied the monks. “What about me? Why... Why me?”

“He needed a friend,” the chief monk said generously. “We recognized that. Social interactions are crucial at your age, are they not?”

Evan nodded slightly. “I guess...”

He blinked as he fidgeted with his shirt. “A friend. As in one. You chose me because it would be easier to alter one person’s memories than it would be to make him popular.”

“And because your mother’s a Slayer,” the chief monk beamed. “We wanted to ensure that he would be safe when he is socializing.”

Connor watched as Evan jumped up and ran from the room. He thought about going after him, but he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure if there was anything he could say that would help.

“There’s more,” Brother Eli spoke up. “The principal reason we needed to do this was because the Key’s existence is no longer a secret.”

Jamie nodded when Connor glanced at her for confirmation. 

“There are many beings out there who would love to get their hands on the Key,” the chief monk said. “To use it to return to their homes, to use it to explore the universe. That must never happen. Unlocking that door would cause catastrophic harm to the world we know. We’re talking the death and destruction of every world in existence.”

The chief monk sipped his tea serenely. “Our order has kept the Key safe since its inception. We did not do this lightly. We find that we are ill-equipped to watch over it in the current climate. We are too noticeable, too easy to find.”

Connor stood up as Jamie started asking questions about exactly what kinds of threats they could expect to face. 

That didn’t matter to him. It wasn’t like he would have to face any of them. He knew that for a fact. 

He knew there was no way anyone in his family would let him get involved, even if they found out he’d been the first one to discover the truth about Joey. Even if Jamie finally managed to convince them that he could be useful to Zoe’s cause.

He walked outside and sat on the steps next to Evan. He didn’t say anything for a minute. He stared straight ahead while Evan breathed into his hands.

“You okay?” Connor finally asked.

Evan stopped breathing and squinted at him like he’d asked if Evan was actually a mole person.

“Stupid question?” Connor chuckled.

“No,” Evan sighed. “It’s just... It’s dumb, but...”

Connor nodded like he understood what Evan couldn’t say. “No, I know. This sucks.”

Evan blinked at the trees. “Are you going to tell him? Are you going to tell Joey that he’s...”

“An ancient ball of energy that a bunch of monks decided to make human?” Connor raised his eyebrows at Evan until he got exactly how ridiculous that was.

“Right,” Evan laughed. “So, that’s a no then.”

“You weren’t planning to tell him, were you?”

“Me?” Evan squeaked. “No. No. Definitely not. I mean, can you imagine? I’m pretty sure that would cost me the one friend I...”

Evan stopped talking and slumped over so that his head was resting on his knees.

“Do you want to forget about this?” Connor offered.

Evan tilted his head so that he was peering up at Connor. “I’m not smoking whatever that guy sold you.”

“I’m not talking about that,” Connor rolled his eyes. “Jamie’s good at memory spells. She could make it so that you don’t remember tonight. You could go on thinking that Joey’s Joey.”

Evan breathed in like he was considering it. He held his breath until he shook his head. “No. I, uh, I don’t want to forget. It’s better this way. It’s better to know that I’m so pathetic that even a bunch of foreign monks know how pathetic I am.”

Evan snorted and pulled himself up so that he could stare at the sky. 

“Hey,” Connor grinned. “Could be worse. At least you didn’t have one of them take advantage of your pot addiction and sell you some funky weed.”

“How is that worse?” Evan frowned.

“I don’t know,” Connor shrugged. “But it is.”

Evan nodded like that explained things. “Would you actually call it an addiction though? Joey always says you just...”

His voice trailed off when he realized what he was saying. 

Connor opened his mouth to say... Something. He wasn’t sure what. 

Ideally something that would encourage Evan to act normal around Joey because that was important. Because treating Joey like Joey was important for everyone’s safety. And because he was starting to think that Joey deserved that.

That the ball of energy that now called itself Joey Murphy deserved a bit of normalcy in its life.

“At least my part in this didn’t cost me anything,” Evan smirked. “How much did you pay that guy?”

“I’m never buying from a monk again,” Connor groaned.

He grinned when he saw that Evan was laughing. 

Laughing at him, but that was okay because it only took him a second to join in.


	5. Chapter 5

POS Night, like the Parents of Slayers club itself, was the brainchild of Cynthia Murphy.

Which pretty much meant that it was the bane of Zoe’s existence. Pretty much being the key words there. No matter how annoyed she got on POS Night, Zoe was able to recognize that there were far worse things than having one of her parents patrol with her.

It wasn’t that bad when her father was the one trailing after her. Larry seemed to consider slaying a sport. He asked Zoe about her stats, about how many kills she’d made, how many demons she’d faced. He timed her when she got into a fight and occasionally asked her to sprint around the block so he could see how fast she was. 

It was enough to make her think that one of these days he was going to start clapping his hands and say, “Good hustle, good hustle.”

Unfortunately, the nights where her father joined her were exceptionally rare. He only filled in on the ones when her mother had a commitment that she could not ignore.

Zoe knew that her mother meant well. She knew her mother had read countless articles about the importance of making her Slayer daughter feel like she was supported and secure. She knew that was the reason her mother had started POS. 

That and the fact that her mother liked to compare notes with the other Slayers’ mothers, to see if any of them knew why Zoe had come home with bloodstains on her clothes, to see if their daughters kept them in the loop about the latest threats.

Zoe knew her mother was always simultaneously disappointed and relieved when she learned that Zoe really wasn’t different from the other Slayers in that regard.

Zoe also knew that her parents were still struggling with all of this. It had been five years since Ava Moore killed a demon on live tv. Five years since the world was flipped upside down, since people realized that they really should be terrified of the dark.

Zoe had been eleven when it happened. She’d been old enough to get what was happening, but young enough to roll with it in a way that she knew her parents never could.

She’d never expected to be a Slayer though. She’d never expected it because people never expected these things to actually happen. Even in Stormyvale. Even though it was a known fact that they were all living on top of a Hellmouth, a literal mouth to hell.

Despite that knowledge, people still thought they were safe, that the nightmarish things they read about and heard about couldn’t happen there. That it couldn’t happen to them.

Zoe supposed that was how these things always went. It was probably better this way. Safer. It was definitely safer. 

And somewhat annoying.

Zoe squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the conversation her mother was having with the other parents. 

“Did you hear that?” Nicole giggled as she sidled up next to Zoe. “They’re talking about buying us uniforms. I swear my mom thinks we’ve joined another dance team. If she tries to bedazzle my hoodie, I’m going to die laughing.”

Zoe kept her eyes focused straight ahead like she saw something in the distance. She wished she could see something. She could have used a bit of action at that moment.

That was another problem with POS Night. It seriously cramped their style. It was impossible to be stealthy while patrolling with a pack of parents who were sipping wine coolers and gossiping.

At least this only happened once a month. Zoe had seen to that. She’d put her foot down when her mother tried to make it a weekly thing.

“Switch time,” Fiona hissed as she popped up behind them. She grabbed Zoe’s arm and started dragging her down the hill. “We’ll check the south side. You two keep an eye on the parents.”

Zoe glanced at Fiona quizzically. “Did you see something down there?”

Fiona snorted and shook her head. “No, but I couldn’t handle spending another minute with Cara.”

Fiona glanced over her shoulder before continuing, “Did you hear her mom?”

Zoe shook her head.

“I’m starting to think Cara might actually be the sane one in that family. Her mom’s a real nutjob.”

“What’d she say?”

“Nothing much,” Fiona grinned. “Just that she thinks we should try having a sit-down with the vampires before we slay them.”

“A sit-down?” Zoe repeated numbly.

“You know, we should have a talk about our feelings and what we hope to get out of our time with them. That sort of thing.”

“No wonder Cara thinks the vampires just want to be loved.”

Fiona’s eyes sparked dangerously. “Speaking of love, what’s the deal with you and Nicole?”

Zoe almost tripped over a tree root as she came to a sudden stop. “What?”

“You obviously needed rescuing back there.”

“I did not,” Zoe muttered.

“You did so,” Fiona scoffed. “So, what’s the deal? Half the girls think you two used to...”

Fiona grinned evilly. “You know.”

Zoe rolled her eyes when Fiona wiggled her eyebrows at her. “Nicole was my best friend growing up.”

Fiona deflated immediately. “Is that all?”

“Yes, that’s all,” Zoe sputtered. “We had a falling out last year.”

“You stopped being friends then? Is that it?”

“Pretty much,” Zoe shrugged. “She had a problem with the whole Slayer thing, funnily enough.”

“Really?” Fiona drawled. She narrowed her eyes as she looked up the hill.

“It was a jealousy thing, I think,” Zoe admitted. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it was. She turned our other friends against me by saying that I think I’m better than everyone now that I’m one of the Chosen Ones.”

“That worked?”

“I didn’t notice until it was too late.”

Fiona shook her head. “Shit like that makes me glad I was homeschooled.”

“You mean you don’t have fights like that in college?”

“Not really,” Fiona smirked. “I mean, Sam and I are having a passive-aggressive fight about whose turn it is to take out the trash, but you know... That’ll sort itself out when the pile falls on us one of these days.”

“Remind me not to come to your place until it does,” Zoe shuddered.

Fiona rolled her shoulders and looked around. “You think we should call it a night? I doubt we’re going to find-”

Zoe would have scolded Fiona for jinxing them, but the screams coming from the group of parents distracted her and made her blood go cold. She ran back up the hill and nearly collided with her mother, who had broken away from the group to find her.

“Oh, Zoe,” Cynthia murmured. “It’s awful. I’ve never... I’ve never...”

Zoe squeezed her mother’s arm before moving around her to see what everyone was staring at. She let go of the stake she hadn’t realized she was holding when she saw the figures kneeling in the clearing.

The figures kneeling beside a pair of children who were very obviously dead. Zoe could see why the parents were so upset. Even in Stormyvale, it was beyond horrifying to come across a pair of tiny, adorable blonde children whose throats had been slashed. Zoe wanted to gag when she saw the blood surrounding them. 

“I’m calling the police,” Nicole’s mother said shakily.

Zoe’s breath caught in her throat when she saw the symbols that had been drawn on the children’s hands. She didn’t know what the symbols meant, but she knew enough to know that they were not a good sign. She caught Fiona’s eye and knew they were going to be having an emergency Slayer meeting later that night.

Zoe looked up when she heard Nicole gasp behind her. She felt like gasping too when she saw what Nicole was staring at.

She knew the girls who were huddled together by the children. Not well, but she recognized them from school. She knew their names.

Alana Beck and Tracy Jacobs.

Zoe watched as they held their hands up in surrender.

“This isn’t what it looks like!” Alana shrieked.


	6. Chapter 6

Evan got dressed as soon as he saw the headline. He didn’t put on the casual but not too casual outfit he’d picked out for the college fair he’d been planning to attend. He knew that wasn’t happening when he read that a pair of children had been brutally murdered and left in the park. He knew there was no way his mother would take him now. He knew there was no way she’d even remember promising to go with him.

And he really didn’t want to go without her. The thought of wandering around the conference center alone and visiting booths and talking to strangers...

Talking to strangers who he knew he should try to make a good impression on.

He wasn’t up for that. He really wasn’t up for that.

He put on a pair of sneakers before he went downstairs. He normally didn’t bother with shoes when he was in the house, but he wanted to have the option of leaving immediately if he felt the need to bolt.

The house was full, just like Evan had expected it to be. He wondered what time the Slayers had started pouring in. He spotted a few platters scattered around the dining room table. They were almost empty, but the fact that there was any food remaining at all told him the gathering had just begun.

He helped himself to a bagel and some orange juice. An onion bagel. He wrinkled his nose when he realized that was his only option. 

He decided to take his food upstairs when he saw there weren’t any seats available in the living room. He didn’t see the point in making his presence known. Everyone in the group was loudly discussing what had happened in the park. He lingered in the doorway long enough to hear several of them ask who the children were and why no one had come forward to claim them. He had been wondering the same thing, but he knew he didn’t have anything to add to the debate.

He turned around when he sensed someone watching him. Make that three someones. He suddenly felt like a gazelle who was being hunted by a trio of lions. He glanced at the stairs and decided he couldn’t get to them fast enough to stop the attack.

Alana was the first one to step forward, which really wasn’t a surprise when Evan saw the look on her face. She looked frantic, like she’d been up all night. Which also wasn’t a surprise when he remembered that she’d been one of the witches who’d been found at the scene of the crime.

The fact that the surveillance cameras clearly showed her arriving at the scene long after the children had appeared did not seem to have calmed her nerves at all.

“Where are you going?” Alana demanded. “Your mother said you were going to get to the bottom of this!”

Evan blinked and looked around. His mother was nowhere to be seen. “She did?”

Alana tugged at her hair anxiously. “We need to figure this out. They’re talking about sending her away!”

“Who?”

“Tracy!” Alana hissed like it was obvious. “Her parents are freaking out. It isn’t the first time, but they might actually do it this time. They might actually send her to stay with her aunt.”

“Why-”

Alana rolled her eyes. “Because now it’s real. Now it’s out there that their daughter is involved in things they don’t want her to be involved in. They can’t pretend that she isn’t a witch anymore. They can’t pretend her interest in magic is purely academic. They can’t-they can’t convince themselves that we’re just friends.”

Alana took a breath and closed her eyes. “I can’t lose her. You have to... Your mother said you’re better at finding things on your... your thing. Your database thing. She said you’re better at using it than she is.”

That was true, technically, but only because Evan actually had the time to figure out how to get results. 

“We need to find out who those kids were,” Alana whispered. “Everyone’s focusing so hard on their deaths, on what killed them, that no one is looking into them. Who were they? Who were their parents? Were they reported missing?”

Evan nodded slightly. “I’ll, uh, I’ll see what I can do.”

Alana beamed like that was all she needed to hear. She turned on her heel and strode back into the living room.

Evan’s eyes flickered from Jared to Connor and back again. He chewed his lip as he waited to see who was going to pounce on him next.

Jared. Of course, it was going to be Jared. He didn’t know why he’d questioned that.

Evan tilted his head as Jared stepped forward. He opened his mouth to ask why Jared was there, but then he spotted Jared’s mother talking to Maggie. Which meant that they were actually trying to work with the Safe Night Society for a change.

“I need an Evan story,” Jared said quickly.

Evan shook his head to clear it. “What?”

“An Evan story,” Jared repeated slowly. “My insurance bill’s due tomorrow and my mom just realized I haven’t mentioned you since school started.”

Jared tapped his chin when Evan didn’t say anything. “Preferably one that your mom knows so she’ll confirm it if my mom decides to check.”

Evan shook his head again. “Um-”

Jared gestured at his arm. “How’d you do that? You never said.”

Evan stared at his feet as he scuffed them along the floor. “I fell out of a tree.”

“You what?”

“A tree... I was, uh, I was climbing it and I-”

“You...” Jared started laughing so hard that he had to lean against the wall to steady himself. “Okay. That’ll do. There’s no way she’ll think I made that up.”

Jared’s laughter faded as he smirked at something across the room. Evan followed his gaze and spotted Jared’s brother, Henry, talking to a group of Slayers.

“What’s he doing?” Evan asked.

“He’s showing them his portfolio,” Jared grinned. “Henry’s a neck model now.”

“A neck model?”

“Apparently, there’s a high demand for them now. Go figure.” Jared shrugged. “Henry’s decided that he should team up with the Slayers. He thinks he can go undercover and act as bait to help them trap their prey.”

“That’s...” Evan’s voice trailed off as he realized he wasn’t sure what that was.

“I know,” Jared nodded. “Stupid, idiotic, the worst idea you’ve ever heard... He’s making a lot of money though. I’m starting to think about getting in on it myself.”

Jared gingerly poked at his neck. “I think I could do it, don’t you? My neck is way better than Henry’s. It’s firmer, stronger, more muscular.”

“It’d have to be to support that fat head of yours.”

Apparently, Connor was no longer willing to wait his turn. He raised his eyebrows as he stepped towards them.

“Fat with brains, baby,” Jared sneered. He wrinkled his nose when he realized he’d used the word ‘baby.’ “You know what I mean...”

He tilted his head at Connor. “What’re you doing here? We’re strategizing about how to defeat the monsters, not join them.”

Connor squared his shoulders and looked Evan in the eye. “We need to talk.”

Jared scoffed at that. “You need to talk to Evan? Have you met Evan? He doesn’t-”

Evan nodded because it was easier to nod than it was to stand there and listen to Jared put him down. “Yeah... Okay...”

Jared made a hmphing noise as Evan led Connor outside. He didn’t follow them though. Evan wasn’t sure if that was due to fear or disinterest. 

Evan took what was supposed to be a casual sip of his orange juice but quickly became a mess as it went down the wrong pipe and made him choke. He cleared his throat repeatedly as he sat down on the steps. He was only slightly surprised when Connor did the same.

“You need to talk to Joey,” Connor said firmly. He exhaled loudly when Evan just blinked. “He’s freaking out because he thinks you’re mad at him. And you know Joey. He can’t handle thinking that people are mad at him.”

Evan didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. He knew he was being a jerk. He knew that avoiding Joey wasn’t going to make the situation go away.

He kept telling himself it was better this way though. Without him, Joey would make new friends, the kind of friends he should have.

The kind of friends that an ancient ball of energy that had been turned into an incredibly kind, smart, cool human boy should have.

Knowing what Joey was had helped Evan see that they should never have been friends in the first place. It had also made him realize how pathetic he really was. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered how much time the monks had spent observing him before they decided he should be Joey’s friend.

“He’s talking about joining the Slaymate club,” Connor continued.

Evan looked up when he sensed Connor watching him. It was obvious that Connor thought those words were significant, but Evan wasn’t sure why.

He shrugged and nibbled on his bagel. “So?”

“So, didn’t you hear those monks? Joey needs to lay low. He shouldn’t do anything that will draw attention to him.”

“The Slaymate club bakes cookies and decorates lockers,” Evan pointed out. “It’s not like they’re out there fighting the fight.”

“Joey wants to change that. He wants to make it a club that actually helps the Slayers. He wants Zoe to start helping him train.”

Evan’s eyes widened as he let that sink in. He was starting to see why Connor thought it was a bad idea for Joey to join the club.

“You need to talk to him,” Connor maintained. 

“Can’t you do it?”

“You’re his best friend!”

“His fictional, monk-made best friend,” Evan mumbled. “You’re his brother.”

“His fictional-” Connor looked away when Evan rolled his eyes. “He won’t listen to me, but he will listen to you. He’ll listen if you tell him not to join.”

Evan knew that was true. Deep down, he knew Joey wouldn’t even question it if he told him not to join the Slaymate club.

He wasn’t sure if he could do this anymore though. He wasn’t sure that he could keep up the act and pretend everything was normal. That Joey was normal. That their friendship was normal.

Part of him wanted to try. That part liked having a friend and didn’t want to give it up, no matter how weird and confusing this whole thing was. That part wanted to hang onto the illusion that he had a life that almost resembled an actual life. 

But there was another part of him that wanted to walk away from Joey and stick his head in the sand like that would make everything okay again. 

“You said you wanted to remember,” Connor reminded him.

“I know,” Evan said sharply. “It’s just... It’s not real. My memories of Joey... They’re not real. He’s not my friend because he chose to be, because he wants to be. He thinks he’s my friend because he was programmed to be my friend. Because a group of monks made him and manipulated me so that I’d think we’re friends. Which figures because how else was I going to have a friend? The monks saw that. They knew it, so they picked me. So, what am I supposed to do with that? Go on pretending? I could, but I don’t know if I... My mom’s always going on about how Joey’s a sign that I’ve made some progress, that Dr. Sherman’s helping me, that I’m getting better at all of this. What am I supposed to do when she says that now? Smile and nod and act like nothing’s changed? Like I’m not lying when I let her think I have a friend, a real friend?”

Evan let his breath out in a huff and rubbed his forehead. He wished he could take that back, all of it. He wished he could erase the last minute of his life and whack himself upside the head before he allowed the word vomit to come flying out.

He glanced at Connor out of the corner of his eye before staring at his feet. 

Connor was silent for a moment. He shook his shoulders and shrugged. “Is that all this is about?”

Evan tilted his head to blink at him. “What?”

“I’ll be your friend then.” Connor said it like that was the most obvious solution. He scratched his neck when Evan didn’t respond. “And I’m not under a spell or-”

He stopped speaking when he saw the way Evan was staring at him. His lowered his eyes as his expression immediately turned cloudy.

Evan bit his lip to resist the urge to ask if Connor thought it was a good idea to bribe him to be Joey’s friend, if he thought that his friendship was an appropriate bargaining chip to use. Something about Connor’s expression made him think that might not be the case.

Connor was clearly regretting his offer, but not because of the offer itself. Evan was almost certain of that anyway. He was an expert at nervous twitches after all. He didn’t think he was imagining the fact that Connor was anxious about his response.

“Forget it,” Connor snapped. “It was a stupid-”

“Okay,” Evan blurted out. He didn’t know what he was saying or why he was saying it. He knew this didn’t make any sense. He knew that Connor was difficult. He knew that Connor had flipped out on him on the first day of school. He knew this had the potential to be a disaster. 

He also knew that Joey had mentioned, on more than one occasion, that he should try talking to Connor. That they were in the same grade and could sit together in class and at lunch and...

Joey hadn’t really said that though. Evan’s memories of Joey saying that were old, which meant they’d been planted there by the monks.

The monks who had clearly been observing all of them and knew things that Evan didn’t think he wanted them to know.

Evan pushed that thought aside and extended his hand. “Friends?”

Connor laughed at him like he’d lost his mind. That didn’t stop him from shaking Evan’s hand though.

“Friends.”


	7. Chapter 7

Connor had a tendency to act impulsively. That was a well-known, well-documented fact. He couldn’t even begin to guess how many times he’d had an adult look at him like looking at him was exhausting and say the words he’d heard so many times they’d lost all sense of meaning.

_What were you thinking?_

Those words, always in the same tone. Always with the expectant stare like they were waiting for an answer.

Which was ridiculous. It was ridiculous to think that he knew what he’d been thinking. It was ridiculous to think that he’d been thinking anything at all. 

He’d had countless therapists... 

Okay, not countless but four.

He’d had four therapists try to help him get to the bottom of this over the years. 

Four therapists who had tried to get him to focus on his breathing before he reacted. Who made him keep journals and write poems and use crayons to illustrate his feelings. Who tried to get him to analyze the situations that had made him act impulsively and look for patterns. 

Dr. Miller, his current therapist, was easily the best of the lot. Which made him sound a lot better than he really was. 

Connor didn’t actively hate him at least. Which was pretty huge, all things considered.

Dr. Miller made Connor keep a journal, like therapists one and three had. He never asked to see it though. He made it sound like it was just a suggestion whenever he brought it up.

Connor did it anyway though. Not regularly and not with many words. Some entries, if you could call them that, simply contained a single four-lettered word.

He mentally composed one of those after he offered to be Evan’s friend.

As far as impulsive decisions went, that was by far the least harmful one he’d made. 

It was also the most embarrassing. 

He was glad there wasn’t an adult there to witness it because he knew he would’ve attempted to explain himself for once.

He didn’t know how successful he would’ve been though. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking or if he’d been thinking at all.

It had just seemed like the obvious thing to say, so he’d said it.

Which really didn’t make sense when he thought about it. He was seventeen, almost eighteen, years old. People his age didn’t go around volunteering to be friends with other guys. Even he knew that.

It was tempting to blame this on the monks. To tell himself that the part of his brain that kept trying to grasp on to the fake memories thought this made sense. That part of his brain thought it was something Joey had encouraged. That it was something Connor himself had wanted. Something that he’d wanted, actually wanted. And not just the part that was sort of, sometimes, slightly jealous of Joey.

It could’ve gone worse. A lot worse. 

Connor realized that as he left Evan’s house. 

He realized that and was glad it hadn’t.

 

Connor frowned as he slid into the backseat of the twins’ car. He narrowed his eyes at them and asked, “What?”

“You’re riding with us today?” Zoe asked incredulously. 

Connor nodded slowly. “What did you think I was going to do? Hitchhike to school?”

“You have your own car,” Zoe reminded him.

“Which I’m not allowed to drive,” Connor mocked in a tone that came so close to Zoe’s it made Joey snort. 

Connor bit his lip and looked down when Zoe flicked Joey’s shoulder.

“But you got your car back,” Zoe snapped.

Connor did a double take. “What? No. I-”

“You only lost car privileges for a week this time. The week ended yesterday.”

Connor stared at the ceiling while he tried to figure out if she was telling the truth. He was pretty sure she was when he stopped to think about it.

It was impossible for him to keep track of these things. He lost his car privileges so often that he usually felt like he didn’t have a car at all. It was impossible for him to remember how long he’d lost them each time his parents took away his keys.

It was also impossible for him to remember what he’d done to lose them in the first place.

He glanced back at the house and debated whether he should go get his keys. He decided against it when he remembered that his father was the only one inside. His mother had headed out so early that she’d been gone before the rest of them woke up.

Which had been kind of awesome since it’d meant they’d gotten to have pop tarts – real pop tarts, the ones their father kept hidden in the garage, the ones that were most definitely not the organic kind – for breakfast, but it kind of sucked now.

Because going inside would mean facing his father and discussing his punishment and most likely getting punished again for mouthing off.

Which would mean that he really would have to hitchhike to school. Or skip going altogether and wind up losing his car privileges for a month.

He fastened his seatbelt and raised his eyebrow at Zoe until she sighed and started the car.

“I keep telling them this isn’t working,” Zoe muttered as she backed out of the driveway.

Connor leaned forward when he saw the way those words made Joey twitch.

“Zoe,” Joey hissed warningly.

“I’m just saying...” Zoe mumbled. She met Connor’s stare when she glanced in the rearview mirror. “Do you even remember what you did this time?”

“Zoe,” Joey said again.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Connor retorted. “I probably tipped a cow or got caught jaywalking or-”

“My point exactly!” Zoe slapped the steering wheel for emphasis. “I keep telling them they need to try something else.”

Connor’s back stiffened as he glared at her. “Hold up. You’re giving them advice on how to discipline me?”

“Zoe,” Joey breathed desperately.

“Well, someone has to,” Zoe sniffed.

Joey clapped his hands before Connor could explode. The action made Connor flinch and forget what he was about to say.

“So...” Joey drawled. He took a breath and started singing _I Just Can’t Wait to Be King_ at the top of his lungs. He elbowed Zoe until she gave in and sang Nala’s part.

Connor shook his head as he watched the twins sing. He didn’t join in. He never joined in when they did this. He knew that without even trying to sort through the rush of familiarity that their singalong created in his head.

He wondered if this was why the monks had placed Joey in his family. He wondered if they’d thought the Murphys needed someone who liked to belt out Disney songs whenever things got tense. 

He wondered how different things would be if Joey really had been there all along.

 

The lawn was packed with students. Connor glanced around uncertainly as he followed the twins out of the parking lot. He scratched his head as he tried to figure out what was happening. It was too early for a fire drill.

For a second, a very brief second, he wondered if the school was actually on fire. Or maybe there was some horrible evil inside that would force the principal to send them all home. With any luck, it would be something that would take over the school and give them a week off.

That had happened once when Connor was in ninth grade. It was probably about time for it to happen again.

Zoe straightened herself up as she scanned the lawn. She kept one hand on her backpack as she prepared herself to spring into action. 

That wasn’t necessary though. By the time they reached the edge of the lawn, they could see a PTO volunteer directing the students and attempting to get them to form a line. 

Joey stood up on his tiptoes to see why they were lining up. “There’s a table up there. They’re giving out armbands.”

Joey did a double take and raised his eyebrows at Zoe. “Mom’s up there. This is why she left home at the crack of dawn?”

Zoe blinked and craned her neck to see. “I wonder what that's about...”

The line moved slowly. There were fifteen parents sitting at the table, but they were taking the time to interview every student before giving them an armband.

“Look over there,” Joey murmured.

Connor turned to watch as three students were led away from the school by a group of police officers. The girl in the middle was crying hysterically.

“I’m not a witch,” the girl sobbed. “I was telling the truth! I’m not-”

“Your sister said you have a magic book,” the officer restraining her said.

“I-I do, but-” The girl hiccupped and attempted to wipe at her eyes. “I-I don’t use it. I tried one spell when I was, like, eleven, but I-”

“So you admit it!” the officer shouted triumphantly.

“No!” the girl shrieked. “It didn’t work. All it did was stink up my house. You can ask her. Ask my sister!”

Connor whipped around as another girl came running down the hill. Judging by the fact that she looked strikingly similar to the girl in handcuffs, Connor was willing to bet that this was the sister. 

The second girl came to a skidding stop in front of them. “Oh my God! I was kidding! It was a joke! She’s not a witch!” 

“She told Mr. Moore she’s never practiced magic, which was a lie,” the police officer maintained. “Why would she have lied if she had nothing to hide?”

“It was barely even a spell,” the girl squeaked.

Her sister put her hands on her hips and glared at the cop. “It wasn’t a spell. It was like an incense explosion. It made our house smell bad for a couple hours. That’s all!”

The police officer tried to prod the girl forward. “We have to bring her downtown for questioning.”

The girl’s sister trembled as she reached into her bag. “I’m calling Mom. I’m-”

“Your parents have already been informed,” the officer said firmly. “They told us to do whatever is necessary to ensure our town’s safety.”

The girl’s sister paled. “Then take me with her!”

“It doesn’t work that-”

“I’m a witch!” the girl’s sister yelled. “I’m a witch! We’re sister witches! We worship the moon and the stars and-”

Connor flinched as another officer snuck up and grabbed the girl’s sister. He looked away as the girls were pulled towards the parking lot.

“What is going on?” Joey mumbled anxiously. He tugged at his sleeves as they moved forward.

Connor clenched his teeth when he saw how relieved Joey was to see that they were in their mother’s line. He didn’t know why, but his instincts were telling him that was not a good thing.

He fiddled with his bag until their mother called them forward. He looked up long enough to see her pull two armbands out of the box in front of her. Without saying a word, without even looking at the twins, she handed a red one to Zoe and a blue one to Joey.

The twins exchanged a look. Joey scrunched his armband up and played with it while Zoe tried to catch their mother’s eye.

“What’re these for?” Zoe asked quietly. “Do we have to wear them or-”

“Connor,” Cynthia interrupted sharply. So sharply that Zoe’s eyes widened like she’d been slapped. “Have you ever used magic?”

“No,” Connor answered automatically. He blinked as he tried to figure out what she was getting at.

“Never?” Cynthia asked. “You’ve never experimented with it?”

Connor shook his head. He looked over his shoulder at the twins, who were whispering to each other and glancing around the lawn.

“This is a serious matter, Connor. I need you to answer truthfully. You don’t cast spells or brew potions or-or any of it?”

Connor shook his head again.

“Jamie’s never taught you any spells?”

“She’s offered, but-”

“You said no?” Cynthia beamed.

Connor swallowed dryly. There was something unnerving about the way his mother was smiling at him. It was scary even. The stuff of nightmares.

“I’ve been around spells, but I’ve never-”

“You yourself have never used magic,” Cynthia finished.

Connor nodded because it was true. Technically, it was true. He’d been around it since it became known. He’d asked Jamie to do things for him and had consumed his share of magical edibles, but he’d never actually done anything on his own.

His mother reached into the box and pulled a white armband out. Her face lit up as she handed it to him.

“You get one of these then,” Cynthia grinned. Her eyes briefly flickered towards the twins. “Off to class then. All three of you. And put those on.”

Connor’s stomach dropped when he caught a glimpse of the paper taped to his mother’s box. He glanced at the twins and was relieved when they didn’t look at it.

“What was that about?” Zoe asked shakily as she pulled the armband on. 

Joey shook his head dazedly as he did the same.

Connor didn’t slide his on until he saw one of the police officers eyeing him. The officer gave him a nod when he saw the band.

The school was filled with chaos, which wasn’t unusual for a Monday morning, but this went well beyond the normal level of craziness. 

Students were running up and down the halls and comparing armbands. Some were laughing, some were crying, and some were asking anyone and everyone what it all meant.

It didn’t take Connor long to realize that he was part of the majority. Over half of the students were also wearing white armbands.

Connor poked at his while he let that sink in. He’d always had complicated feelings about fitting in and being normal. Part of him had always wanted it and part of him hadn’t cared enough to try.

That part had always thought it was a lost cause, so there was no point in actively trying to belong.

It was weird to realize that he did now, in this sense at least.

It was weird and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like what it meant, what he thought it meant. He wanted to pull the band off and chuck it in the trash, but he wasn’t brave enough to try.

Zoe suddenly excused herself to go talk to a group of girls who were also sporting red armbands. Connor bit his lip when he realized what that meant. He didn’t think it would take Zoe more than a second to figure that part out.

Joey breathed in quickly and waved when he spotted Evan standing by the water fountain with Jared Kleinman. Connor trailed behind him as he wove through the crowd to join them.

“Come on,” Jared pled. “Just trade with me. Blue’s my color. Well, no. Green’s my color, but blue is so much better than boring, old white.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Evan hissed. “Haven’t you been paying attention?”

Jared rolled his eyes. “It’s stupid. This whole thing is stupid. So, blue is for magic users. Red is for Slayers. What’s white for?”

“Everyone else?” Evan shrugged. “The normal kids.”

“You mean the boring kids,” Jared retorted. “Come on. Trade with me.”

“No,” Evan said firmly.

“Then teach me a spell. Any spell.” Jared snapped his fingers in Evan’s face. “Chop chop.”

Evan’s lips pursed as he shook his head.

“Ugh, fine.” Jared heaved a heavy sigh and turned to go. “Be that way then.”

He looked over his shoulder and smirked at Evan. “Be an evil warlock!”

Evan’s eyes widened as he looked around frantically. He squeezed them shut when he saw that no one seemed to be listening to them.

Joey bumped Evan’s shoulder reassuringly. He looked Evan in the eye and asked, “Any idea why they’re doing this?”

Evan bit his lip. “My mom has a theory, but-”

The rest of his words were drowned out by the sound of the bell ringing. Joey shrugged resignedly and set off in one direction while Evan went in the other.

Connor quickly fell into step with Evan because that was the logical thing to do. They were in the same homeroom.

And they were friends now, so there was that too.

“What’s your mom’s theory?” Connor asked curiously.

Evan looked around wildly. “I don’t know if I should say. Here. I don’t know if I should-”

“At lunch then,” Connor nodded. 

Evan’s face scrunched up as he looked at him, but he didn’t say a word.

Connor grabbed Evan’s arm before they walked into Mrs. Jensen’s classroom. 

“I saw the label on my mom’s box,” Connor whispered. “It said the white armbands are for the ‘good kids.’”

Evan swallowed audibly. “That’s what I was afraid of...”


	8. Chapter 8

The official statement about the armbands was released later that morning. It didn’t contain anything that came as a surprise to anyone. By that point, the entire student body knew exactly what the bands were all about.

Zoe read the statement while she ate lunch in the band room. She resisted the urge to throw her phone when she finished it. 

It wasn’t that it was a rude statement. It was extremely polite. Polite and formal. It explained that the town officials had decided the best way to figure out who killed the children in the park was to help everyone in Stormyvale know which citizens to keep an eye on.

Slayers and witches. It came down to Slayers and witches.

That didn’t surprise Zoe. It was alarming, definitely, but she’d figured that was what was happening. 

She’d hoped she was wrong, but she hadn’t expected to be.

The armbands were being spread throughout the town. By third period, all of the teachers were wearing them. 

Zoe didn’t realize it had spread beyond her school until she saw the texts from the Slayers who no longer went there.

Lena was threatening to show up at the Sparkle Club wearing nothing but her red armband. Kirsten begged her to do just that and to send pictures if she did.

Kirsten then added that she’d had three people approach her about being their bodyguard. She was thinking about doing it because she didn’t want to spend her whole life paying off her student loans.

Molly was mad because she hated the color red. She was convinced that it caused her to have bad luck. She was wondering if she’d get in trouble if she washed her band until it turned pink.

Fiona was cranky because people had been trying to talk to her all morning. She’d ended up having to leave the library and sit in her car so that she could study in peace.

Sam just wanted someone to tell them when it was safe to go outside again. Fiona told Sam to call her if they needed to go somewhere and she’d come get them.

Yael said a group of police officers interrupted her temple’s Rosh Hashana service to give out the armbands. She said her parents wanted to know if anyone knew what this was really about.

Dee announced that she was going back to her hometown to stay with her grandparents until this all blew over.

Zoe was inclined to agree with Dee when she read her last text. _Stormyvale is fucking crazy._

Zoe silenced her phone and shoved it back in her bag when she saw the time.

There were two boys leaning against the lockers across from the band room. Zoe put her head down when she saw the way they were eyeing her. Or, more specifically, the way they were eyeing her armband. She didn’t have time for this. She had to be downstairs, in her gym uniform, in less than five minutes.

“They really are a family of freaks, aren’t they?” the boy on the left snickered.

“No wonder their mom’s so into all this,” the boy on the right smirked.

Zoe looked up long enough to glare at the boys. She was almost around the corner when she heard one of them call, “You may want to check on your brother.”

Zoe whipped around to ask what they were talking about, but they slipped into the bathroom before she had the chance.

Part of her wanted to go in after them, but she knew that wouldn’t go over well. She knew it could very easily earn her a trip to the police station if the boys claimed she’d been too aggressive with them. 

She fumbled through her bag for her phone. She glanced up and down the hall before calling Joey. It went straight to voicemail.

She cursed as the bell rang and the classroom doors all flew open. She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted Connor leaving one of them. She hadn’t actually thought that he was the brother in question, but it was good to have that confirmed.

She waved at Connor and motioned for him to meet her by the stairs.

“I don’t have much time,” Zoe said breathlessly when she made her way to him. She told him what had happened, what the boys had said, what she was afraid it meant.

“I can’t be late for gym,” Zoe whispered. “Coach Gregory hates Slayers. Cara said he gave her detention this morning for showing off. He said she should’ve made herself run slower so she didn’t make the other students feel bad.”

“Go,” Connor nodded. “I’ll track him down.”

“Are you-”

“It’s fine. I have lunch now. I’ll get Evan and we’ll find him.”

Zoe smiled gratefully and turned to go.

“Hey, Zoe,” Connor called after her. “Try to run slow. Mrs. Felder’s the detention monitor this week. You don’t want to have to deal with that.”

 

Joey was fine. Physically fine.

Zoe was so relieved to see that that she hugged him as soon as she walked into their French class. He let out an awkward chuckle before returning the hug.

“What happened?” Zoe hissed as they took their seats.

Joey shook his head. “It was nothing. I...”

Zoe leaned in and lowered her voice. “Whose butt do I need to kick?”

Joey bristled at that. “No one’s. Don’t... It’s nothing. I’m fine. Don’t do anything.”

Zoe’s mouth formed a thin line as she studied him. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like that someone had clearly gone after Joey. Her brother. Her twin brother who wouldn’t hurt a fly. 

She wondered if it had been one of those boys. She wondered if they’d tell her what had happened if she tried to force it out of them.

Joey rolled his pen around the desk as their teacher stood up. “Where were you at lunch today?”

Zoe blinked in surprise. They hadn’t sat together since they were freshmen. Zoe had been eating with the other Slayers since she’d been called while Joey always sat with Evan.

Of course, she knew that had changed because Evan had a different lunch period this year. She felt bad when she thought about that, when she thought about the fact that she didn’t know where Joey had been sitting lately.

“Band room,” Zoe muttered. “I couldn’t handle the cafeteria today.”

Joey nodded knowingly. “Is it okay if I-”

“I’ll save you a seat,” Zoe grinned.

 

Zoe rubbed her eyes when she saw that Charmaine Tyson, the girl who had once turned all of her exes into lizards, was wearing a white armband. 

Charmaine looked over her shoulder quickly before advancing on Zoe. “You aren’t going to tattle, are you?”

Zoe opened her mouth to ask why Charmaine had lied, but Charmaine continued on before she could.

“No one will believe you,” Charmaine said snidely. “Even your mother will think you’re making shit up.”

Zoe struggled to keep her face blank. She folded her arms across her chest and leaned against her locker. “Why did you lie?”

“Because a blue band would’ve clashed with my outfit,” Charmaine smirked. “And because I don’t have time for this shit. I don’t have time to explain my actions to everyone who thinks they have the right to ask me to.”

Charmaine looked Zoe up and down. “I didn’t do it, just so you know.”

“I didn’t say you did.”

“You were thinking it though. I didn’t know those kids. And, if I had, I wouldn’t have killed them. I would’ve turned them into iguanas. And only if they’d seriously pissed me off.”

Charmaine closed her locker and grabbed her backpack. “I can help you come up with an outfit that’ll go with that if you want.”

“What are you, like, a stylist now?”

“Something like that,” Charmaine grinned.

 

Band practice was canceled on Tuesday. Zoe was so disappointed when she heard that that she couldn’t bring herself to leave the room right away.

She stayed behind and fiddled with her guitar case until she was the only student left in the room. She looked up and saw that Mr. Benson was giving her a weak smile.

“Are you going somewhere?” Zoe asked conversationally. “It’s a funny time to go on vacation, isn’t it?”

“I’ve been suspended,” Mr. Benson said quietly. He stood up and closed the door. “Parents have been calling the school all morning to say they don’t want people like me teaching their children.”

Zoe felt her stomach drop as she focused on the blue band on his arm. “Oh. Right.”

She didn’t ask if her mother had been one of those parents. She didn’t want to know the answer.

“All your teachers will have white armbands tomorrow,” Mr. Benson continued. “That doesn’t mean that they all should be wearing white armbands.”

“I know,” Zoe nodded rapidly.

She knew the system was far from perfect. She knew Charmaine wasn’t the only person who had lied to get the color they wanted.

“I’m not going anywhere. Raquel and I are trying to get to the bottom of this.”

“You think there’s something weird going on then?” Zoe asked hopefully. 

“Most definitely,” Mr. Benson said grimly.

Zoe knew he didn’t mean for his answer to be reassuring, but she decided to take it that way anyway. It was reassuring to think that this had been caused by something they’d have to fight because the alternative was scarier. The alternative was that this wasn’t temporary.

 

Dinners were often quiet at the Murphy house, but they usually weren’t this quiet. Zoe shifted uncomfortably in her seat when she thought about that.

No one was saying anything, not even Joey. 

She glanced at her brother out of the corner of her eye and watched as he poked at his pasta.

“Dinner’s good tonight, Mom,” Zoe said as brightly as she could manage.

Her mother didn’t say anything for a moment. Everyone jumped when she dropped her fork on her plate. “I’ve been thinking. Slayer is just another word for killer, isn’t it?”

Zoe shrugged and stared at her plate. That settled it. She was never breaking the silence again.

 

Zoe tightened her hold on the towel when she came out of the bathroom and found Connor sitting on her bed. This was a first. It wasn’t unusual for Joey to let himself into her room, but Connor never did.

“What’re you-” Zoe started.

“Are you okay?”

Zoe let out a startled laugh. Connor was checking on her? Another first.

“Yeah,” Zoe muttered. “Why?”

“Because our mother’s a fucking nutcase,” Connor hissed.

Zoe looked at him suspiciously. Was this a trap of some kind? It felt like it was a trap.

She sighed and leaned against her closet door. “You’re loving this, aren’t you?”

Connor’s face scrunched up with confusion. “Loving what?”

“You’re the favorite now. The golden child.”

“You think I like this?”

Zoe shrugged. “You don’t?”

“It isn’t... She’s obsessed with those kids. She’s obsessed with finding out who killed them.”

“I know.”

“Dad’s worried about her,” Connor added.

That was news to Zoe. “He is?”

“I heard them talking to each other last night. He thinks she needs to let this go.”

“I don’t think she can,” Zoe whispered. She glanced at Connor and made a split-second call. She decided to voice the thought that had been bouncing around her head for days. “I think something’s gotten ahold of her.”

Connor nodded like he’d already thought of that.

 

Joey moved out on Thursday. Not officially and not permanently, but that was essentially what he did.

He claimed he was staying at Evan’s house because they were working on a science project together.

Zoe knew that wasn’t the case though. She also knew it proved how distracted their mother was because she didn’t realize that Joey and Evan weren’t in the same science class.

 

By Friday, Zoe had grown so tired of the stares that she barely even noticed them anymore. 

It wasn’t that she’d hidden the fact that she was a Vampire Slayer. She had always answered truthfully when someone asked her about it.

She hadn’t gone around telling everyone though. She wasn’t the kind of person who did things like that. And it really wasn’t any of their business unless they needed her help getting rid of a demon.

The red armband ensured that everyone she encountered knew what she was though. 

She’d thought about getting rid of it. They all had, all of the Slayers. She’d thought about refusing to wear it, but people were getting arrested for that.

It had become a law. An unofficial law, but one that was being enforced.

Kirsten kept telling them that she thought they should riot, that they should take to the streets and shut this down. Their Watchers ordered them not to do that though. They said that while they had the strength and skills to handle this, they didn’t have the numbers.

They also didn’t know what they were really facing, which put them at a major disadvantage.

And it wasn’t like they could put a stake into the heart of mob mentality.

 

Zoe heard them before she saw them. Their voices were so loud that they could be heard above the crowd.

“Are you sure you’re a Slayer? Aren’t Slayers supposed to be hot?”

“Not hot, but they’re all thin, aren’t they? ‘Cause they work out all the time.”

“She must be the lazy one then.”

“Slow and lazy.”

“With some freaky weird genetic disorder.”

Zoe wasn’t sure exactly what made her do it. She barely knew Kimmy. Kimmy was one of the new Slayers. Zoe didn’t think they’d even spoken to each other yet.

So, it wasn’t like they were close.

Maybe it was because of Joey, because of the lingering feeling of helplessness she felt every time she saw Joey jump when someone glared at him.

Maybe it was because of her mother, because she couldn’t even bring herself to think about what was going on with her mother.

Maybe it was because she hated this. She hated having to sit on the sidelines and wait for someone to tell her what to do.

It didn’t matter what the reason was though. It didn’t matter why she did it. 

She spotted the boys who had cornered Kimmy. She watched as they laughed at Kimmy while she tried not to cry.

And then she marched over to them, grabbed them by the back of their necks, and smashed their heads together as hard as she could.

As hard as she could without killing them, that was. She had the presence of mind to stop herself from going that far. 

 

Dinner that night was the worst one yet. Zoe didn’t regret her decision to stand up for Kimmy, but she wished she hadn’t done it on a Friday because it meant that she’d be stuck at home for over a week.

Because, of course, she’d been suspended for a week. An entire week. Even Connor had never managed to get suspended for that long.

He’d almost looked impressed when he heard. 

“At least you weren’t expelled,” he’d said cheerfully.

Zoe had rolled her eyes and laughed sarcastically, but she knew he had a point.

Given the current state of things, it was actually kind of a wonder that she hadn’t ended up in jail.

She was starting to suspect that her mother had stopped that from happening. She didn’t know why she thought that though because her mother was blatantly refusing to look her in the eye.

“Those guys had it coming,” Connor suddenly exploded.

Zoe glanced up in surprise before staring at her plate again.

“They’ve been tormenting people all week.”

Zoe sat up when she heard that. “Were they the ones who... Joey...”

Connor shook his head. “No. That was-”

“I’m going to do the dishes,” Cynthia interrupted.

Larry’s brow furrowed as he watched her stand up. “But we haven’t finished-”

“Zoe,” Cynthia said shrilly. “Will you come help me?”

Zoe nodded so quickly that she wanted to laugh at herself. She couldn’t believe how desperate she was to have her mother pay attention to her.

“You can start on the pots in the sink,” Cynthia instructed.

Zoe nodded again and got to work. The water had just heated up when the door swung open and Connor stepped inside. She did a double take when she saw how the sight of Connor standing there made her mother’s face fall.

“Are you done, sweetie? There’s one more slice of bread if you-”

“What’s that?” Connor gasped. 

Zoe spun around to see what he was eyeing. She didn’t get the chance though. Her eyes bulged as he crumbled to the floor. 

It happened so quickly that she didn’t have time to react. 

Her mother dropped the frying pan she was clutching and leapt across the room so suddenly that Zoe couldn’t get away.

She felt her body go limp as soon as the needle was jammed into her arm. She looked around wildly and struggled to get away from her mother, but it was no use. It only took a second for her to lose consciousness.


	9. Chapter 9

Evan couldn’t remember how or when he figured out that his mother was a Vampire Slayer. The only thing he knew for certain was that he had figured it out himself. No one had told him, not initially at least.

He supposed he must’ve seen something or heard something that made him decide that’s what she was. Something that made him bring it up oh so casually during breakfast one day when he was five years old.

His parents had been talking about dogs. He remembered that part clearly. He remembered his father telling his mother that she should put some ice on her dog bite. He remembered his mother telling his father that wouldn’t help this time.

He remembered the look his parents exchanged before he glanced up from his Lucky Charms and asked his mother if she had killed the dog.

He remembered the way they stared at him and asked why he had said that. He remembered shrugging and asking if it had been a vampire dog.

They had tried to explain it after that. They’d tried to put it in terms that he would understand, but it hadn’t made a difference. He’d simply nodded and said it was fine. He already knew all that.

He’d claimed he got it and he’d thought he had, but he didn’t really understand what she was for years. There were times when he still didn’t think he totally got it. There were times when he thought he didn’t fit into that world, when he thought his father had the right idea when he decided to up and leave. 

There were times when he thought it would’ve been better for his mother, for the world she was trying to save, if he’d gone to Colorado with his father. There were times when he thought he was just a burden, that he proved why it was a bad idea for Slayers to become mothers. 

 

The mystery of the children in the park made Evan feel particularly useless. By Friday night, he was starting to seriously doubt his sleuthing abilities. 

He hadn’t found anything anywhere about them. He couldn’t find their names or their families or anything that even suggested that they had existed.

It was enough to make him wonder if they even had. If it was possible for a group of monks to create Joey and implant memories about him, then was it possible for a pair of children to appear out of nowhere just to be killed?

Probably. This was Stormyvale after all.

Evan had found dozens of articles about tragedies that were similar to the one in the park, but that wasn’t surprising. Even before Ava Moore let the world in on her secret, these things had been happening at an alarming rate.

He took a breath as he closed another tab. That article had been the saddest one yet. 

Sad and tragic and in no way connected to anything supernatural, not unless the kids’ mother had been possessed.

He flexed his fingers and studied the screen. He didn’t bother looking up when he heard the door to the office open. 

“Took you long enough,” he called. “Was there a line?”

“A line?”

Evan nearly fell off his chair as he spun around to face the speaker. The female speaker. Not Joey. Not Joey with their dinner.

“You’re not Joey,” Evan said weakly.

“No, I’m not,” Alana laughed as she perched on the edge of his desk. “I think I found something.”

Evan watched as she fished a musty-looking book out of her backpack.

“I’ve been reading my grandmother’s journals. You’ve heard of her, haven’t you? Rosa Beck.”

There was so much pride in her voice when she said her grandmother’s name that Evan would have claimed he’d heard of her even if he hadn’t.

“There’s an entry in here that she wrote fifty years ago. I think it might help.”

Evan leaned over to see. He nodded along as Alana summed it up for him. 

Rosa had gone to Alabama to visit her friend Marie and they’d run into a bit of a situation.

Two children had been killed and left on a playground across the street from Marie’s house. The tragedy had consumed the town. It had made people lose their minds and make outlandish accusations as they tried to solve the case. 

Marie had been forced to move because a mob had torched her house and tried to kill her.

“It’s horrible, isn’t it?” Alana shuddered. “But it sounds like what’s happening here. I got the chills reading it.”

Evan nodded numbly and pulled up the tab with his search results. He fixed it so that it only showed articles from fifty years ago. 

That narrowed things down significantly. There were only three articles from that year. He clicked on the second one when he saw that it was from a paper in Alabama. 

His mouth dropped when he saw the picture. 

It was of the same children. The exact same children. He’d spent the whole week seeing their faces everywhere in town and on the internet. He’d know them anywhere.

“How can that be?” Alana gasped.

Evan shook his head and reached for his phone. “I have to tell my mom.”

 

The office was so full that it took Evan a second to notice that Joey had returned, that he was standing next to him looking uncharacteristically antsy. 

“What’s wrong?”

Joey’s eyes darted around the room frantically. “They aren’t here yet?”

“Who?”

“My dad and Connor,” Joey hissed. “They aren’t here yet?”

“I don’t think so,” Evan said slowly. He stood up so that he could scan the room too. It was possible that Joey’s family had slipped in without Evan noticing. People had been doing that all night. His mother’s office was on the list of safe havens that was being circulated among all those wearing red and blue armbands.

He rocked back on his heels as he watched Alana embrace Tracy and declare that she had the cleverest girlfriend in the world because Tracy had figured out how to outsmart her parents and get to safety.

“You don’t see them?” Joey asked desperately.

Evan shook his head. “But that’s okay, right? They have white armbands. Why would they need to come here?”

“Because...” Joey took a breath before rushing through his explanation with such speed that it took Evan a moment to grasp what he was saying.

“Your mother kidnapped Zoe?” Evan finally said.

“And hit Connor with a frying pan and...” Joey laughed in spite of himself. “Aunt Jamie had to come get me. That’s why I was gone so long. She told me to stay put until she got there in case...”

Evan nodded numbly. That had been quick thinking on Jamie’s part. If the rumors were true, then Joey would be in custody now if his mother had found him first. 

Because that was the direction this night was heading in. A statement had been released that all those wearing red and blue bands must come to the town square to be judged. If they did not come willingly, they would be found guilty in their absence and a warrant would be put out for their arrest.

Evan’s heart pounded as he looked around the room again. He was trying his hardest not to let that get to him. No one else seemed at all bothered by that threat. No one else seemed to be taking it seriously, not the way Evan was at least. 

“I think I have something!” Maggie called from across the room. Evan watched as a group of Slayers circled around her.

“So, we’re thinking this is a demon then?” Joey asked.

“I don’t know,” Evan shrugged. “I’ve been going through the archives and it looks like this happens every fifty years. Always the same thing. The same children, the same reactions. And it... It always ends this way, with the judgment and punishment of the so-called witches.”

He stopped speaking so that he could listen to the brainstorming that was taking place. Maggie had found an entry in a Watcher’s journal about a shapeshifting demon that fed on fear and hatred. It liked to cause chaos because it thrived on that, because chaos inspired the things that kept it alive.

“We can kill it if we force it to reveal its true form,” Maggie concluded. She turned to face Jamie. “Do you have a spell for that?”

“I think I have one on here,” Jamie said briskly. She reached for her laptop and sat down to look.

The door flew open again as another group came flying in. Evan kept his eyes on the ground until he heard Joey sigh.

“They’re here,” Joey said excitedly. His face lit up until he spotted the knot on Connor’s head. “She really did it, didn’t she? She actually hit him with a frying pan.”

Evan followed Joey across the room to the couch that Mr. Murphy was attempting to get Connor to sit on.

“I don’t need to sit down,” Connor argued. “I’ve been sitting for twenty minutes.”

“In the car. You were sitting because you were in the car.”

“Still counts. I need to-”

“You have a head injury.” Larry sighed and scratched his neck. “I don’t know what we’re doing here. I should’ve taken you straight to the hospital.”

“Jamie said we should-”

“Since when does Jamie make decisions for this family?”

“Since she’s the only one who gets what’s happening,” Joey spoke up. He lowered his eyes when his father turned to gawk at him.

Connor glanced at his phone and let his breath out in a huff. Evan watched as he craned his neck to look at something across the room. He nodded decisively before he slid his phone into his pocket.

“You know,” Connor smirked at his father. His grin widened when he saw Evan and Joey standing there. “I always thought if someone from this family was going to hit me with a frying pan, it’d be you.”

“Same,” Larry said after a beat. He laughed and clapped a hand on Connor’s shoulder. “Will you at least put some ice on it if I get you some?”

Connor nodded like he was making a huge, personal sacrifice by agreeing to put an ice pack on his head.

Evan pulled himself up and gestured at the kitchen area. “Here. I can-”

“Joey can do it,” Connor interrupted briskly. “Joey can show him where the ice is.”

Joey immediately set off towards the kitchen with his father in tow. Evan waited until they were out of sight before turning to raise his eyebrows at Connor.

“Jamie just texted me about the spell she’s working on,” Connor whispered. 

“Okay?” Evan said uncertainly.

“A spell to reveal the demon’s true identity.”

“I know. I heard.”

“Joey’s going to want to help. He’s going to insist on going downtown to get Zoe.”

Evan nodded. “We’re all going.”

Connor tilted his head like he thought Evan was being deliberately slow. “You have to convince Joey to stay behind.”

“Why-”

“Because Jamie’s not sure what will happen if her spell ricochets off of something and hits him by mistake.”

Evan inhaled sharply. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the look of triumph on Connor’s face.

“So, unless you want to risk Joey turning back into a-” 

Connor stopped speaking abruptly when Evan stomped on his foot. For a second, Evan regretted his decision. He made himself swallow that feeling though. He looked Connor in the eye before nodding at Joey, who was weaving his way back through the crowd with an ice pack in his hand.

“Your mom’s trying to convince our dad to be the decoy,” Joey said giddily. “She thinks we might need someone with a white armband to get us into the gathering.”

“Wheels up in two minutes!” Maggie called from the center of the room. 

There was a flurry of activity as everyone ran around the office making their final preparations.

“I don’t think we should go with them,” Evan blurted out. He focused on Joey and tried to ignore the way Connor was shaking his head at him. “I think we should stay here.”

“But Zoe-” Joey started.

“Has an entire army coming to rescue her.” Evan took a breath and pointed at Connor. “Your brother can’t go anywhere. He might have a concussion.”

“He can stay here then,” Joey agreed.

“By himself? What if he-”

“Can you stay with him then?” Joey begged. “Zoe’s my twin. I have to-”

“He threatened me,” Evan squeaked. He tried not to laugh as the tactic formed in his brain. “The first day of school, in the computer lab, he...”

His voice trailed off when he noticed the way Connor was glaring at him. His heart skipped a beat as he tried to decide if Connor was genuinely upset or was just playing along. 

“Look at him,” Evan said quickly. “Don’t make me babysit him by myself!”

Joey didn’t say anything for a moment. He looked between the two of them like he wasn’t sure what to do with them. He closed his eyes before kneeling down next to Connor.

“You’ll be good, won’t you?” Joey asked soothingly. 

Connor just stared.

“If something happens, I won’t be able to defend us and get him out of here,” Evan pointed out.

“You think something might happen?” 

Evan tried to keep the fear out of his voice. The truth of it was, he didn’t like the idea of staying behind without any Slayers or competent witches to help them. If something actually did happen, it would be up to him to stop it because Joey was really only capable of floating pencils and turning flowers into different flowers.

“My mom put a bunch of protective wards up when she bought the building, but you never know. Things are crazy out there tonight.”

Joey nodded glumly. “Okay, fine. I guess I can see your point.”

The door opened and closed repeatedly as the group started pouring out onto the street. Evan’s eyes flickered around as he searched for his mother so he could tell her they were staying. He didn’t see her anywhere though. He spotted Maggie eyeing him curiously and called that he’d see her after. She gave him two thumbs up before scurrying out the door.

The office felt eerily quiet once everyone was gone. Evan blinked at the mess they’d left behind and decided that he was going to pretend he hadn’t noticed. He was not in the mood to deal with that.

Joey yawned and started towards the kitchen. “We may as well eat then.”

He looked over his shoulder and caught Evan’s eye. “Connor can have half of your sandwich if he’s hungry. I’m not sharing.”


	10. Chapter 10

Connor was relieved that he wasn’t imagining the knocking sound until he realized what it meant.

Someone was at the door. That was even more alarming than the idea that his injury had caused him to hear things.

He shifted in his seat and pretended not to hear it because it was clear that was what Evan was doing. It was also clear that Evan was silently hyperventilating. 

Joey noticed that before he noticed the knocking sound. He sat up straight and studied Evan’s expression. “What’s wrong?”

Evan shook his head as the knocking grew louder. This time it was accompanied by the sound of someone shouting for them to let him in.

Joey stood up before they could stop him. He paused in the middle of the room to say, “It’s Jared.”

Evan jumped up at that. He grabbed a key from the basket by the window and shakily opened the door.

“Thanks,” Jared spat. “For the record, if I’d died out there, I would’ve come back and haunted all your asses.”

He snorted when he saw the way Evan was staring at him. “In case you haven’t heard, it’s a madhouse out there.”

Evan quickly locked the door. “But your mom’s the one in charge, isn’t she? She-”

“Has lost her freaking mind,” Jared moaned. “I tried telling her that tying people to poles and burning them alive is not an acceptable form of punishment and she lost it on me. She told me I was either with them or against them.”

“Did she hit you with a frying pan?” Connor asked.

Jared tilted his head to squint at him. “No, but she tried to lock me in our basement. I escaped through the window and ran here.” He frowned as he scanned the room. “Where is everyone? I figured this would be the safest place in town.”

Evan opened his mouth to respond, but Joey beat him to it.

“They’re burning people?” Joey whispered. His face was rapidly turning white. 

“That’s the plan,” Jared shrugged. He nodded at Evan. “I’m assuming your mom and her friends are doing something to stop it?”

Jared didn’t wait for a response. He grabbed Evan’s laptop and put it on the table by the couch. He stared at Evan until he came over and entered his password. 

When that was done, Jared pushed Evan out of the way so that he could open a browser. “They’re livestreaming it. My mom said they’re going to livestream it because she wants to show everyone how easy it is to take back their towns.”

Connor played with his hands while Jared tried to find the page. He’d heard that kind of thing before. It came up regularly. People wanted to go back to living in ignorant bliss. They liked to think that they could wish the demons away. They liked to think that these things, the bad things, couldn’t happen to them. That they only happened to people who deserved it. People who did stupid things like read books in languages they didn’t understand or talk to weird-looking strangers or walk alone at night. That you could lead a nice, safe, normal life as long as you kept your nose clean and didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.

He knew his parents had seen things that way until Zoe had been chosen. They’d been a bit alarmed when the news first came out. They’d gone through the same stages that the majority of the world seemed to have gone through. Confusion, disbelief, concern, fear, and finally acceptance. Acceptance with a hint of denial. 

On the surface, their lives had stayed the same until Zoe became a Slayer. They knew things were changing. They heard the stories about the people who fell victim to the forces of darkness, but that’s all they were. Stories, things that happened to other people. That’s how it felt, even though they lived in Stormyvale, even after they learned their town was situated on a literal mouth to hell.

Of course, some things did change after the Ava Moore debacle. The biggest change occurred when they learned that Jamie was a witch. Connor was pretty sure he was the only one in his family who was not surprised by that. He’d always suspected there was more to his aunt than met the eye. He’d chalked that up to wishful thinking on his part though. That he’d read too many books where it turned out that an eccentric relative was involved in something that jumpstarted the hero’s quest.

It had been kind of gratifying to find out that he’d been right. That it wasn’t normal for a librarian to travel around the world the way she did. Connor had asked her how she managed to keep her day job and she’d smiled and said “magic.”

Connor had been tempted to let her teach him some of her spells. He’d been tempted to try leading a life he’d read about and dreamt about for as long as he could remember. He’d been tempted to try something that sounded exciting and fun and distracting. 

He’d ultimately decided not to take her up on it though. She was rarely in town for one thing. She didn’t even officially move back to Stormyvale until Zoe was called.

And it soon became clear to him that everyone he knew, particularly his classmates, expected him to become a warlock. 

An evil warlock, to be exact. Because they thought he looked the part and acted the part and seemed like the kind of person who would cast a spell to send them all to hell. 

That had settled things for him because Connor always tried his hardest not to let other people define him and decide who he was going to be.

He knew it didn’t really matter in this instance though. He knew people looked at his nails and his clothes and the way he kept to himself and they thought their instincts were right. He knew that explained why he’d spent the whole week getting the side eye from people when they spotted the white band on his arm. He was sure that everyone who looked at him was convinced that he’d lied to get it. 

He knew Jared was included in that group when he saw the way Jared was staring at his arm. He narrowed his eyes and asked, “What?”

“Nothing,” Jared laughed. He stepped away from the laptop and rubbed his hands together. “There we go. Showtime.”

 

Nothing happened at first. The screen was blank and they could only faintly hear people chattering away in the background.

It was disappointing in a way. It meant that they had to wait. Connor tried not to think about what they were waiting to see.

The camera shook before it focused on a circle of poles. There were already five people tied to them. Connor stared at his hands again until he heard Joey gasp. He looked up to see two men carrying Zoe across the square.

“She’s still unconscious?” Joey cried. “She-”

Connor let out a startled laugh as Zoe suddenly bolted up and kicked both men in the shins. One of them released her as he doubled over in pain, but the other didn’t let go until she headbutted him and jammed her knee into his groin.

Zoe looked around frantically before running towards the nearest pole. A group of people wearing white armbands charged at her while she tried to untie the girl. They froze before they got to her. The video was grainy, but Connor could tell that something had spooked them.

There was a rustling sound and then the square was filled with witches and Slayers and...

The screen went black. Not blank like it wasn’t being focused properly. Black like someone had taken it offline. 

Connor let out the breath he’d been holding and leaned back against the cushions.

“That was hot,” Jared breathed. His grin wavered when he saw the way everyone was looking at him. His cheeks heated up and he muttered, “Right, yeah, okay. Learn to read the room...”

He rolled his eyes when no one looked away. A sly smile crossed his face as he nodded at Evan. “Come on. I know you stored that away for later.”

Evan immediately lowered his gaze.

Connor looked away when he got Jared’s meaning, but Joey continued to stare. 

“What do you mean?” Joey frowned.

Jared snorted and shook his head. “Okay, I know she’s your sister, but, uh... Okay, imagine for a second that that wasn’t your sister. Imagine that-”

“That’s what does it for you?” The words flew out of Connor’s mouth before he had a chance to think about what he was saying. “Seeing a guy get his balls handed to him like that?”

Jared’s mouth twisted to the side like he was trying not to laugh. “Evan gets it. He-”

Evan jumped up so suddenly that his elbow smacked the side of Jared’s head. Connor had a feeling that hadn’t been a total accident.

“How’s your head? Do you need more ice?”

It took Connor a second to realize those questions had been directed at him. Evan disappeared into the kitchen before he could form a response.

Joey was still staring at Jared. His mouth opened and closed several times before he asked, “You think Evan likes Zoe?”

Jared’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Do I think Evan likes Zoe? Hmm... Let’s look at the evidence, shall we? He’s had her Instagram bookmarked since we were-”

Jared flinched when Connor’s arm whacked the back of his head. 

Connor made a point of yawning as he stretched. He smirked and offered an apology that didn’t even come close to sounding sincere.

Joey squinted at the two of them before turning back to the screen. He sighed when he saw that it was still black. “What do you think is happening?”

“I hope someone smacks some sense into my mom,” Jared said. “Literally.”

“Ours too,” Connor agreed.

Joey turned so that he could stare Connor down. “You don’t mean that, do you?”

“Mean what?”

“You don’t really want someone to hurt Mom, do you? I get you’re upset that she-”

“Hit me with a frying pan,” Connor finished.

Joey nodded numbly.

Jared grinned as he tried to touch the lump on Connor’s head. Connor smacked his hand away and scooted back so that he couldn’t reach.

“Your mom seriously did that?” Jared cackled. “That’s amazing!”

Connor didn’t need a mirror to know that his expression had turned murderous.

“No, not like that,” Jared said quickly. “You’re set now, you see. For life. You’re golden. You can do no wrong. Anytime you do, you just have to remind her of the time she did that!”

Jared wiggled his eyebrows as he studied Connor’s forehead. “If you’re lucky, it’ll scar.”

Jared’s face lit up again as Evan cautiously entered the room. He grabbed at Evan’s shirt when he went by. “Show them your scar.”

Evan jumped back like he’d been burned. “What?”

“Your scar from the time your mom-”

Evan tugged at his shirt to keep Jared from pulling it up. “Stop it!”

A quick glance at Joey confirmed that Connor wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what was going on. Apparently, this was a story the monks hadn’t heard. Or it was one they hadn’t thought Evan would share. Connor was willing to bet it was the latter when he saw Evan’s expression.

“That scar is wasted on you,” Jared sighed. “I’d own my mom if she’d shot an arrow at me.”

Evan grabbed at his hair and leaned against the wall. “It was an accident. It was-it was an ambush and I shouldn’t have been there.” He glared at Jared. “We shouldn’t have been there.”

Jared’s eyes flashed in a way that almost made him look contrite. “I was twelve!”

Evan hung his head sadly. “I shouldn’t have listened to you.”

“I was curious,” Jared sputtered. “I’d just heard your mom was a Slayer and... And you should’ve known better! You should’ve-”

Connor’s spine went stiff when he realized what they were talking about. “That was you?”

He remembered that story. He should’ve remembered that Evan was the boy in it. He didn’t think there were any other Slayers with sons after all. Not in Stormyvale anyway. 

He remembered how the story of the Slayer who accidentally shot her son with an arrow had helped the legislation requiring Slayers to be registered get passed. He remembered how his mother had tutted about it for days, how his father had praised the people who were putting the database together.

He remembered thinking that the whole thing was being blown out of proportion. He’d understood that even then. He’d wondered why people were panicking about Vampire Slayers when there were actual vampires prowling around trying to eat people.

Joey jumped as his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered in a breathless tone that instantly told Connor it was one of their relatives.

He nodded like the person on the other end could see him, cringed when he realized they couldn’t, and said that he would be right there.

“That was Zoe,” Joey said as he hung up. “It’s over. They’ve killed the demon and taken back the square.”

“She wants us to come down there?” Connor asked.

“She wants me to come down there,” Joey said uncertainly. “Can one of you give me a ride?”

Connor shook his head. “Dad drove.”

“I don’t have a car,” Evan muttered.

“I can,” Jared volunteered. He cackled as he poked at his arm. “It bruised! There’s a bruise where my mom grabbed me. I have to go shove this in her face before it goes down.”

Jared stood up and looked at Connor and Evan. “Are you guys coming?”

Evan gestured around the office. “I should clean this up. My mom will be too tired to deal with it when she gets back.”

“I’ll help,” Connor offered. His eyes widened when he saw how those words made Joey pause.

“We can stay and help too,” Joey said quickly. He gave Evan a look filled with so much meaning that Connor felt stupid when he didn’t follow.

He felt stupid until he realized what Joey was thinking.

He thought that Evan was scared to be alone with Connor, that there was a chance Connor would threaten him again.

Or worse. Probably worse.

Or maybe not. Joey’s mind didn’t seem to come to conclusions like that naturally. The monks must have made it so that Joey didn’t always assume the worst when it came to Connor.

“You should go,” Connor said. “Zoe wants to see you and it’ll give me a chance to...”

He let his voice trail off intentionally. Joey beamed when he got what Connor was hinting at. 

“To what?” Jared demanded.

Joey grinned as he prodded Jared towards the door. “Let’s go. I bet traffic’s going to be a real nightmare.”

Evan followed them to the door and locked up behind them. 

“Do you know any cleaning spells?” Connor wondered.

“Not really,” Evan shrugged. “I’m really only good at a couple spells. Defensive ones mostly.”

He sighed and reached for the trashcan. He looked up when he sensed that Connor was still watching him. “What?”

Connor breathed in quickly. He hadn’t actually intended to apologize. He’d just been trying to give Joey that impression so he’d leave them alone.

Which...

He wasn’t sure why he’d wanted that. 

Probably because getting rid of Joey also meant getting rid of Jared and that was definitely a good thing.

Connor nodded to himself. 

He breathed in again when he realized that Evan was waiting for an answer.

Nervously waiting, like he was panicking about the fact that Connor was staring at him.

Which was fair, especially since Connor was still staring.

“I think I owe you an apology,” Connor finally said.

Evan blinked like that was the last thing he’d been expecting to hear. “For what?”

“The computer lab,” Connor said quietly. “I shouldn’t have-”

“I’m not upset,” Evan interrupted shrilly. “Not anymore. I just... I just said that because-”

“I know why you said it. I still owe you an apology though.”

“Okay,” Evan nodded. “Apology accepted.”

Connor glanced at him curiously. “So, you and Zoe-”

He started laughing before he could finish his sentence. The look on Evan’s face was priceless. He looked like he’d been shocked and frozen and... Something else that Connor couldn’t pinpoint.

“In the original timeline, BJ-”

“BJ?” Evan snorted.

Connor rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help chuckling too. “I’ve started referring to it that way in my head. BJ – Before Joey.”

Evan snorted again.

“You’re twelve,” Connor grinned.

“You laughed too!” 

Connor shook his head. “Okay. We’re both twelve.”

He stood up under the guise of straightening a stack of papers that was in danger of toppling to the ground. “Your original letter was about Zoe.”

Evan froze for real this time. He didn’t say anything for a minute. When he finally did, his voice was barely above a whisper. “It was?”

He continued on before Connor could respond. “No, I mean, I know it was. You already said that, didn’t you? That day-that... The first day. You asked why I was obsessed with your family and... I’m not. I mean, I don’t-I don’t think I am. I just-”

“You like Zoe?” 

Evan’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. He leaned back so he could squeeze the edge of the desk behind him. “I don’t know. Maybe? I think I did. I get these flashes of... It’s like I sometimes remember what it was like-”

“BJ?” Connor filled in with a grin.

Evan smiled weakly. “Yeah. I guess. I don’t know. It’s weird.”

“Did you really bookmark her Instagram?”

Evan’s ears went red as he nodded.

“You never talk to her though, do you?”

Evan’s eyes widened like he’d never even thought of doing that. “To Zoe? No. Not-not really. Not unless Joey’s there and she asks me a question or-”

“You should,” Connor shrugged. 

“Okay,” Evan mumbled. “Maybe. I’ll, uh...”

He nodded at a paper bag on the floor by the couch. “Joey forgot his food.”

“You want me to take it to him?”

Evan shook his head. “It’ll be soggy by then if it isn’t already. Do you want it?”

Evan sat down on the couch again. “I’m going to eat, so you should eat because otherwise you’ll keep cleaning while I eat and then I’ll feel like I should be cleaning, but I really need to eat because I haven’t eaten in, like, eight hours.”

He said all of that in one breath. Connor would’ve been impressed except he was starting to think that was the norm for Evan.

“I could eat,” Connor said. He struggled to keep the amusement out of his voice. Luckily, Evan seemed to be too hungry to notice.

He glanced at Evan out of the corner of his eye as he unwrapped the sandwich. He wondered if the monks had known about Evan’s original letter. He wondered if they’d known that he had a thing for Zoe.

He wondered if that had been one of the reasons they’d included Evan in all of this.

If it was, then...

Matchmaking monks? Connor had a feeling that was a new one.


	11. Chapter 11

Zoe perched on the windowsill next to Fiona and pretended to pick at her nails. Her head was spinning and she was exhausted. So exhausted that the thought of moving made her ache. She nodded when Sam leaned over to ask if she was okay.

She nodded because it was the answer she wanted to give, the one that she wanted to be true. 

She’d be okay eventually. She knew that for a fact. Whatever drug her mother had injected her with was wearing off. 

And she’d been one of the lucky ones. She didn’t have any bumps or bruises or rope burns. 

She just had a bunch of new emotional scars to add to her collection. 

She was glad she’d managed to duck into the classroom before her mother could catch up with her. She didn’t know what she was going to do about that. The thought of going home and listening and nodding and smiling while her mother apologized made her sick.

The alternative was worse though. The alternative was that her mother would say that while she didn’t want Zoe to die, there was a part of her that remembered what she’d been thinking and thought that she’d been right to see things that way. That there was a part of her that wasn’t sorry for wanting a world free of Slayers and witches and everything they represented.

Zoe had a feeling there were a lot of people in the square who felt that way. She had a feeling she couldn’t count this as a victory yet. The demon was dead and the battle was won, but she didn’t expect things to go back to the way they were.

She didn’t say any of that out loud though. Not to Lena, who was taking her role as team leader seriously and checking on everyone. Not to Fiona, who she knew would come up with a series of snarky remarks that would make her laugh and feel terrible at the same time. Not even to Sam, who she knew would hurt themself trying to assure her that everything was going to be okay.

She kept her thoughts to herself because the thought of voicing them made her stomach sink. She swallowed sharply when her eyes landed on her armband. She hadn’t taken it off yet. She was one of the few who hadn’t. Fiona had tossed hers onto the flames the second the demon was dead. Zoe had a feeling that image was going to go viral if someone had managed to capture it.

Zoe picked at the band and twisted it around, but she didn’t slide it off. She folded her hands in her lap when she caught Sam watching her. 

She would take it off later, after she decided what she wanted to do with it.

The room fell silent once Lena had finished making her rounds and calming the newbies, who looked like they wished they could melt into the wall they were leaning against. She looked over her shoulder like she was expecting to find Raquel or Bennie standing there, ready to take over and tell them what to do. She chewed her lip when she saw that they were still alone. 

Zoe braced herself when she saw that Cara was about to speak up.

It wasn’t that she hated Cara. She didn’t hate any of her fellow Slayers. They were her teammates. That was what Raquel and Bennie were always telling them anyway.

Their actions in the field could determine whether she’d be going home in one piece.

She tried to keep that in mind whenever she found herself getting frustrated with one of them. She had to tell herself that a lot when Cara was around. She tried to tell herself that the problem was that none of them ever got where Cara was coming from.

She knew she was one of the few who saw it that way though. She knew several of the other Slayers would argue that the problem wasn’t that they didn’t get Cara. It was that they did and she really was that stupid.

Fiona was definitely one of the Slayers who thought Cara was an idiot. Zoe could practically feel Fiona’s skin prickling away next to her when Cara opened her mouth.

“Easy, Fi,” Sam whispered.

Fiona’s mouth formed such a thin line that Zoe wondered if Yael had cast a silencing spell on her.

Cara’s nose wrinkled as she looked around the room. “Okay, this is crazy, right? They hunted us and mocked us and tried to set us on fire and now they expect us to clean up the square?”

Zoe’s eyes widened in disbelief. Cara was saying things that made sense? Things that Zoe herself had been thinking? She let out a startled laugh and looked at Fiona in amazement. Fiona shook her head as if to say ‘wait for it.’

“This isn’t what I signed up for,” Cara sniffed.

Sam put a hand on Fiona’s arm, but it was pointless. Fiona had been at the end of her fuse all night and Cara’s very existence was enough to make her explode.

“None of us signed up for this,” Fiona pointed out sharply. “We were chosen. We-”

“We were chosen to be Vampire Slayers,” Cara said. “Emphasis on the word vampire. We shouldn’t have to clean up after demons that don’t have the decency to explode when they die.”

Zoe shut her eyes when she heard Fiona crack her knuckles. 

“Hold up, are you saying you’re actually willing to slay vampires now? You don’t need to take them out for coffee and make sure they’re really, truly evil before you do your fucking job?” Fiona gasped. She batted her eyes at Sam and grabbed at her chest. “Will wonders never cease?”

“I kill vampires,” Cara snapped. She glanced around the circle for support. “You all know I-”

“What’s your count?” Fiona demanded.

“We don’t all keep count like you, Fiona!”

Fiona put a hand on her hip and swiveled around to look Zoe in the eye. “Zoe, how many?”

“Fi, come on,” Zoe whispered. 

“You don’t know? Ballpark it then.”

“Fi,” Sam hissed. “It’s been a long night. Can we not end it by turning on each other?”

Fiona opened her mouth to argue, only to close it when Kirsten chucked an eraser at her. 

“Can we get this over with?” Kirsten begged. “I want to go home.”

Fiona’s mouth twisted to the side as she dramatically pulled her hood up. She didn’t fight it though. Even she knew it was a lost cause if Kirsten wasn’t on her side.

Lena cleared her throat as she stood up again. 

“Hey, guys, I almost forgot...” Lena called. “So, FYI, don’t try to call me at the Sparkle Club anymore.”

“Why?” Kirsten asked.

“I’m no longer employed there.”

“They fired you?” 

Molly elbowed Kirsten in the ribs.

“What? You know she didn’t quit!” Kirsten laughed. “Lena loves that job. She-”

Kirsten clenched her teeth when she saw the way everyone was glaring at her. “I can get you a bodyguard job if you want. I had four more people ask me today. It’s amazing how many people in this town think there’s someone out to get them.”

“It’s amazing how many of them are right,” Fiona muttered under her breath. She grinned when her comment made Sam snort.

“Thanks but no thanks,” Lena scoffed. “I’m going to start working for Heidi full-time.”

Zoe perked up at that. “Really?”

“It’s like Raquel keeps saying. It’s time for me to get a grown-up job.”

Kirsten craned her neck to look out into the square. “What do you say we all sneak out the back way and make a run for it? There’s no way they can catch us all.”

“My mom’s out there,” Cara said quietly. “She’ll notice if I leave.”

“So,” Fiona spat. “She just tried to have you burned at the stake. The least she can do is-”

“They need our help getting the stakes down,” Cara reminded them. 

“They were strong enough to put them up. They’re strong enough to take them down.”

Lena rolled her eyes when she checked her phone. “Raquel thinks it would help mend bridges and show that we aren’t holding any grudges if we go back out there.”

She grinned as her phone went off again. “She also says she wonders why we’re all still hiding in here and that we should run for it while we can.”

That settled things. The girls hovering around the edge of the room nodded at each other before slipping out the door. Zoe looked away when she saw that Nicole was taking her time leaving. She kept her eyes on the ground until she was sure Nicole was gone.

“Still in a lover’s spat, huh?” Fiona bumped her shoulder against Zoe’s and hopped down from the windowsill. 

Zoe made a face and climbed down too. “It’s complicated.”

“These things usually are,” Fiona smirked.

Zoe didn’t dignify that with a response. She knew she had to let this go. She knew she should try to be nice to Nicole. It wasn’t that she was mean to her. She just tried to have as little to do with her as possible. 

Which sucked because they’d been best friends for most of their lives, but the way Nicole had turned on her when she’d needed her the most still stung. 

She was glad she’d found Sam and Fiona. If they hadn’t taken her under their wing, she didn’t know how she would’ve made it through her first year as a Slayer.

She knew she should be the bigger person and try to be there for Nicole like Sam and Fi had been there for her. There was a difference between knowing she should do something and actually doing it though.

“You want to crash at our place tonight?” Sam offered. 

Zoe was simultaneously surprised by the invitation and surprised that she was surprised. Sam was always in tune with what was going on with others. It wasn’t a surprise that they would realize Zoe didn’t want to go home yet.

Zoe’s phone rang before she could say ‘yes, please.’ Her eyes widened when she saw who was calling.

Joey. She’d forgotten all about Joey. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about him. She’d asked him to come down to the square because she’d wanted to see him, because her instincts always told her to check on him when something crazy was going on.

And then she’d wandered off and forgotten all about him. 

“Hey,” she answered breathlessly. “Are you here?”

“I’m here. Where are you?”

“Inside the church.”

“The church? Which church?”

Zoe let out a small chuckle. He had a point. There were at least six churches within walking distance of the town square.

“I’m on my way out. Meet me by the fountain?”

“K, but, uh, just so you know...” Joey muttered. He let his breath out in a huff. “Mom’s looking for you.”

Zoe swallowed and leaned against the wall. “Oh.”

Fiona and Sam paused to look at her. She would’ve motioned for them to go on if she’d had the strength to move.

“I’m going to go stay with Sam and Fi,” Zoe decided. She blinked as she stared blankly out onto the square. “You’re still staying at Evan’s, right?”

“I was thinking about going home tonight, but...”

“Stay at Evan’s,” Zoe said firmly. “I’ll come see you tomorrow, okay?”

Joey was quiet for a second. Zoe prepared herself for a fight, for her peace-loving brother to tell her that they should go home and sing Kumbaya and bake brownies with their mother until they all felt better.

“Bring donuts,” Joey instructed. “They’re almost out of food.”

“Will do,” Zoe promised. She disconnected the call and caught up with her friends. “So-”

Fiona clapped her hands in an overly excited manner. “Yay! We can stay up and watch movies and braid each other’s hair!”

“You can’t braid my hair,” Sam pointed out.

“But we can dye it pink,” Fiona beamed. She nodded like she’d just made an excellent point. “Second you fall asleep, Zoe and I will-”

“Do it and die,” Sam warned.

Fiona raised her eyebrows at Zoe. “Wow. Okay. You’re my witness. Let the record show that this is the day I finally pushed Sam to the dark side. And I did it with the mere threat of pink hair.”

Sam waved their keys at her. “Do you want to walk home?”

Fiona stuck her tongue out at Sam and shoved the door open. “I’m too tired to stay up anyway.”

Sam nodded with satisfaction. “We’re stopping for milkshakes though, right?”

Fiona rolled her eyes like there was only one possible answer. “Of course, we are.”


	12. Chapter 12

Evan felt like he was sitting in the middle of a minefield, which was something he’d never expected to feel while sitting on his bed. 

He needed to get up and cross the room without stepping on anyone. He’d been putting it off long enough. Any longer and his bladder would make him do something that would be even worse than tripping over one of the guys sleeping on his floor.

He glanced around the room and came up with a plan so complicated that even an Olympic gymnast couldn’t pull it off. 

He tentatively put one foot on the ground, then the other. Stepping over Joey wouldn’t be a problem because Joey slept like a rock. Evan didn’t think he’d moved all night. 

Connor was a crazy sleeper, which probably explained why he’d declined Joey’s offer to share the air mattress. He was currently sprawled out in a way that made Evan think he was responsible for the random yelps Jared had been making between snores.

His theory was confirmed when Connor’s foot struck Jared’s leg after he let out a particularly loud wheeze.

Evan froze when he realized that movement seemed deliberate. So deliberate that he suddenly suspected he wasn’t the only one who was awake. 

Evan didn’t know what to do with that information. Connor was the final hurdle he needed to pass in order to get out of the room. He could try walking around him, but that would mean brushing past his desk chair which had a wobbly wheel and squeaked when nudged and...

Connor’s legs snapped up, effectively clearing his path.

Awake then. Definitely awake.

Awake and staring at Evan like he had the night before when he’d told Evan to sleep in his bed because no one was going to steal it from him and there literally wasn’t room for him to be a martyr and sleep on the floor with the rest of them.

Connor broke the stare to blink at the window. He stretched his arms above his head and yawned. “Is it morning?”

“I think so,” Evan muttered. He wasn’t sure what time it was, but the fact that there was light creeping in through his shade told him that was the right answer.

Evan reached for the door handle when Connor didn’t respond. He made it all the way to the bathroom before he realized that Connor had followed him out.

He let out an awkward laugh and mumbled, “Oh, uh...”

Connor lowered his gaze when he realized where they were standing. He took a step back and leaned against the wall by the stairs.

Evan darted into the bathroom without saying another word. It occurred to him that he probably should’ve been a good host and let Connor go first, but desperate times...

Connor was gone when Evan emerged from the bathroom. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that. It was way too early for awkward small talk. It was too early for any kind of talking, really.

Apparently, he was the only one who felt that way though. 

Evan hovered in the doorway to the kitchen as he watched his mother and Connor try to figure out if they had all the ingredients necessary to make pancakes.

Evan wanted to tell them they should’ve waited for him. He could’ve saved them the time. He didn’t need to check to know that the ingredients weren’t all there.

His mother spotted him first. She smiled and said, “You’re up.”

Evan nodded automatically. His head tilted to the side as she slipped past him to close the kitchen door.

“Are Joey and Jared still asleep?”

Evan nodded again. He’d heard Jared snoring away as he made his way downstairs and Joey always came down as soon as he woke up.

That was one of the key differences between them. Evan always waited for Joey to wake up before he ventured out into the Murphys’ house. The monks had gotten that part right at least. It wouldn’t have felt right if his brain had tried to tell him that he felt comfortable heading out on his own.

Evan watched as his mother turned the radio on and nodded at the table. He hesitated a moment before sitting next to her.

She folded her hands in front of her and waited until Connor joined them. “Is there something you two would like to tell me?”

She said it so quietly that Evan wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. Or, rather, he knew he had, but the way she said it made his heart speed up and his head go numb in a way that made him wish he’d misheard her.

“Is there something you think I should know?”

And there it was. Evan wasn’t sure what it was, but this was clearly a test. She knew something that she knew he knew. Something that she thought he should’ve told her. Something that...

Joey. This was about Joey. 

That thought hit him so suddenly that it made him lean back in his chair. 

“Um,” he started.

“I had an interesting talk with your aunt last night,” Heidi told Connor.

Connor’s eyes widened as he chanced a glance in Evan’s direction. Evan nodded slightly to answer the question he couldn’t say out loud.

She knew. She knew what Joey was. She knew it all.

“I’m not going to ask why you didn’t tell me.”

Evan was relieved to hear that. He didn’t feel like explaining it to her. He didn’t think he could manage that without turning into a blabbering mess or going completely silent. Those were the only two possibilities.

“You should have told me,” Heidi said softly. “If I’m supposed to protect Joey when he’s here-”

She sat up straight like she’d heard something that had her on alert. Which she probably had. Evan knew from experience that her senses made her aware of things that normal people didn’t notice.

She picked up the mug in front of her and took a sip of her coffee as the door swung open.

Joey walked into the room, yawning and stretching and rubbing his eyes as he looked at the three of them.

“Morning,” Joey said brightly. It was like a switch had been flicked and he was instantly awake. “Zoe’s on her way with donuts.”

“Well, that solves that problem,” Heidi laughed. She downed the rest of her coffee and stood up. “I’m going to take a shower. There’s coffee if you want some and... That’s all. We really need to go to the store.”

Evan stared at his hands when she said that. If he were a good son, a normal son, he’d handle the grocery shopping for her. He knew he should try it at least. They had self-checkouts now. He could handle that as long as he only bought things that had barcodes on them. And as long as everything went smoothly. Because if something went wrong, he’d have to ask for help and then he’d have to explain what went wrong and he’d start rambling because he’d wind up convincing himself that he’d somehow broken the machine and...

He was spiraling and Joey was staring at him like he was supposed to be answering a question.

Which he probably was, so he blinked and said, “Huh?”

“Is everything okay?”

Joey said it like he meant it, like he was genuinely worried that everything might not be okay. He said it like...

Evan swallowed sharply when he saw the way Joey was eyeing Connor. 

Joey was worried about that. He was worried that his brother was being mean to his best friend. He was worried about what had happened after he’d left them alone the night before.

“Yeah-yeah, fine,” Evan nodded rapidly.

Joey smiled tightly. “Did you guys get a chance to, uh, to talk last night or...”

“I apologized,” Connor said shortly.

Joey’s eyes lit up when he heard that. “You did? Okay...” He breathed in quickly. “Good, so everything’s cool then? You guys are cool?”

“Of course, they’re cool,” Jared retorted as he walked into the room. He put a hand on his hip as he studied them. “Unless... Did you get into a fight after lunch yesterday?”

Joey frowned at him. “What?”

“All right,” Jared grinned. “Fess up. Who ate whose cookies? It was Connor, wasn’t it? I doubt Evan’s a closet cookie klepto.” 

Joey gripped the edge of the counter as he looked between the three of them. “What’re you talking about?”

Jared’s grin faded as he realized how serious Joey looked. “What do you mean?”

“After lunch? You mean... Do you guys eat lunch together?”

“Do they eat lunch together?” Jared laughed. “Of course, they eat lunch together. Who else would eat lunch with them? Who else would willingly-”

Jared stopped speaking when he saw how Evan and Connor were glaring at him. He mumbled something about hearing someone at the door and went to check. Evan was pretty sure that last part was a lie, unless Jared had better hearing than the rest of them.

No one said anything when he was gone. Evan stared at his feet like staring at them would make everything okay. Like staring at them would give him a logical excuse for why he’d kept the fact that he’d been eating lunch with Connor all week from Joey.

“Joey-” Connor began.

“Why did you lie?” Joey whispered.

“We didn’t lie,” Connor said.

“You didn’t tell the truth. You didn’t tell me you were...” Joey shook his head like this was all too much for him. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re friends?” He narrowed his eyes at Evan. “Why did you tell me he threatened you?”

“He did,” Evan said. 

“I did,” Connor agreed.

“So, why-” Joey shoved his hands in his pockets as the door flew open and Jared returned with Zoe in tow.

“I come bearing donuts,” Zoe announced. She dropped them on the table and raised her eyebrows at Joey. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Joey shook his head like it was too much of an effort to talk.

Zoe whipped around when she saw that. “What happened? What-”

“Are you ready to go home?” Joey asked quietly. 

“Home?” Zoe laughed. “I just got here and... You know.”

“You have to face her sometime.” 

“I know, but-”

“Did you drive?”

Zoe shook her head. “Sam dropped me off.”

Joey spun around to look at Jared. “Can you take us?”

Jared scratched the back of his head. “Uh, yeah, sure. I wasn’t planning to leave yet, but if you need a ride, I can-”

“I’m not leaving,” Zoe said stubbornly.

Joey shrugged and started for the door. “Suit yourself.”

Evan opened his mouth to say something, he wasn’t sure what. He wanted to say something to make Joey feel better. Something to explain what had happened. Something that would magically make the sinking feeling in his gut go away.

He blamed Jared. He blamed Jared and his big mouth for messing things up. 

He rolled his eyes when he saw how Jared was eyeing the donuts. He looked like he was about to start drooling.

Jared caught him looking and nodded at the box. “Don’t eat them all before I come back.”

Evan did a double take at that. “You’re coming back?”

“Well, yeah,” Jared huffed. “I can’t go home, can I? Didn’t you see the news? My mom’s committee’s hosting a meeting tonight. This thing isn’t over yet. They want to talk about what the demon taught them. Or... I don’t know. Something like that. I couldn’t make myself finish the article.”

Zoe dropped the spoon she’d been fiddling with. Her face was remarkably pale when Evan turned to face her.

“They’re what?” Zoe whispered. “Joey-”

“All the more reason for us to go home,” Joey insisted. “We need to talk to Mom. We need to set her right again.”

“I don’t want to...” Zoe’s voice trailed off as she reached for the spoon again.

“You can always stay here,” Jared offered like it was his place to make that offer. “That’s what I’m doing. I’m staying here until my mom regains her senses.”

“You’re staying here?” Evan asked slowly.

“Yes,” Jared said in an even slower voice.

“Why here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why not with one of your other friends? You have other friends, right? Real friends. Why are you staying with me, your family friend - someone who’s only your family friend, when you could be staying with one of them?”

The air in the room felt heavy after Evan’s outburst. He scuffed his feet along the floor and looked down to avoid Jared’s glare.

“Maybe I will,” Jared hissed.

“Fine!”

“I’ll stay with...” Jared inhaled shakily.

“Who?” Evan asked before he could stop himself. He knew he was being a jerk. He also knew that Jared hadn’t knowingly caused the mess with Joey. 

That didn’t stop him from being annoyed though. Jared may not have actually done anything to deserve it this time, but Evan was sick of his attitude. He was sick of letting it slide when Jared made sarcastic comments about him. He was sick of letting Jared go around acting like he was so much better than Evan because he didn’t have trouble talking to people.

He was sick of Jared acting like they weren’t friends. Like Evan was so embarrassing that it would be the worst thing in the world if people thought they were friends.

“Who are you going to stay with?” Evan demanded when Jared didn’t respond.

“I don’t have to tell you,” Jared spat.

“That’s because you don’t have anyone else to stay with. You don’t-”

Jared gave him the middle finger and stormed out of the room without looking back. 

Joey’s mouth formed a thin line as he looked at Zoe. As he looked at Zoe like he was trying his hardest to pretend that there was no one else in the room. “Are you coming or not?”

Zoe shook her head as she slid onto the chair next to Evan. 

“Okay,” Joey shrugged. “I guess I’ll see you when I see you then.”

Zoe buried her head in her arms as soon as they were gone.

Evan was tempted to do the same. He didn’t though.

He squared his shoulders and opened the box and helped himself to a chocolate donut.


	13. Chapter 13

In retrospect, Connor really should’ve noticed something weird was going on before he got to school.

In his defense, he lived in Stormyvale. The days where nothing weird happened in Stormyvale were greatly outnumbered by the ones where something did.

And it wasn’t like Connor had spent a lot of time with his family before leaving the house. He stayed in his room until the last possible second because he didn’t feel like dealing with their drama.

And it was their drama this time. Theirs, not his. For once, he was not at the center of things. 

He wasn’t the one their mother had tried to burn at the stake. He wasn’t the one their father had tracked down and guilted into coming home. He wasn’t the one their parents were determined to comfort and soothe and understand.

He’d been with Zoe when their father found her, but he hadn’t been part of that conversation at all. 

A part of him couldn’t help wondering if their parents would be stressing this much if he’d been the one their mother had tried to have executed. 

He was pretty sure he knew the answer to that. He was pretty sure they all did.

He was tempted to blame the fact that he missed the weirdness that morning on the fact that he’d been high, but that would’ve been a lie.

He didn’t light up before going to school. He’d wanted to. He’d gotten as far as holding the joint in his hand. 

He’d put it away though because he knew things were tense enough as it was and he made the conscious choice not to add to the tension by doing something that would make it explode.

He was proud of himself until he walked into the kitchen and saw the way his family looked at him. 

Make that the way they wouldn’t look at him. 

He’d tried to hold his tongue, but it was no use. Everything he’d been feeling that weekend, every bit of anger and frustration and fear poured out of him.

He took a breath when he was done. He took a breath and leaned against the wall and waited for the inevitable.

For the eyerolls and the snide comments and the threats of punishment.

That wasn’t what happened though. No one said a word until his father quietly suggested that Connor shouldn’t drive while he was that upset.

Connor had been so surprised that he hadn’t argued when Zoe said he could ride with them.

In retrospect, that should’ve been a sign that something was up.

If Connor had been paying closer attention, he would’ve noticed that he wasn’t the only one his family wasn’t looking at. 

He would’ve noticed that no one was looking at each other.

And if he hadn’t let his anger get the best of him, he would’ve noticed that he hadn’t shouted at his family.

He’d sang at them.

 

He didn’t think anything of it when the twins started singing in the car. 

He didn’t even think anything of it when he joined in, in a singsongy voice, to ask what Disney movie their song came from.

He slumped down in his seat and put his earbuds in when they didn’t respond.

He felt vaguely annoyed because he was curious what kind of cartoon focused on fires and betrayals and forgiveness. 

He grabbed Joey’s arm before they left the parking lot and asked if it was a cut song from _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_.

He really should’ve known something was up when Joey frowned and asked what song.

 

He didn’t get it until Evan started singing in the middle of their third period Environmental Science class.

He didn’t get it until Evan started singing and dancing and half the class joined in while the other half swayed in their seats and waved their arms like they were at a rock concert.

He didn’t get it until Evan – the guy who never raised his hand, who never willingly spoke in class, who always choked out a bunch of uhs and ums when Ms. Thomas tried to get him to share his insight with the class, who looked so flustered whenever that happened that Ms. Thomas ended up taking pity on him and moving onto the next person – took over the class with a song about trees because Ms. Thomas had accidentally called an oak tree an elm.

He didn’t get it until Evan sat back down, blinked around the room, and turned a shade of red that Connor hadn’t known a person could turn.

“Did I just...” Evan muttered.

Connor nodded dazedly.

“I didn’t... That wasn’t a dream?”

“Do you think you’re asleep?”

Evan pinched his arm and flinched like he’d been stabbed. “That was not normal.”

Connor nodded again. Because what else could he say?

Nothing about that day was normal.

 

Luckily for Evan, spontaneous singing was definitely going around. 

Unluckily for Evan, Jared was in their science class and took every opportunity he had to sneak up on Evan and sing, “ _And that’s why it’s a breeze/to know your trees/it’s easier than learning your ABCs_.”

“I thought you weren’t speaking to me,” Evan reminded him when he walked by their lunch table.

“I’m not speaking,” Jared smirked. “I’m singing... Okay, now I’m speaking, but-”

A loud guitar riff sounded above their heads.

Jared covered his mouth with his hands and made a run for it. He only made it past two tables before the music overwhelmed him and the song took over.

“Is Jared a fan of ‘80s music?” Connor wondered. He didn’t even try to swallow his laughter as Jared jumped on a table and belted out a refrain that pretty much consisted of the words “screw you” being repeated over and over again.

“Apparently?” Evan shrugged. He looked like he was too shell-shocked to laugh.

Connor couldn’t blame him. He didn’t know what he would do if someone sang a song like that at him. Punch them, probably.

He was suddenly glad that he hadn’t seen either of the twins since they’d gotten to school.

He took the opportunity to glance around the cafeteria while Jared sang his song. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten in the cafeteria. Ninth grade? Tenth grade? It was kind of a blur.

He usually went outside or to the library during his lunch period. That hadn’t changed since he’d started eating with Evan.

He’d suggested they go to the cafeteria that day because it sounded like the safest option. Being surrounded by people sounded much safer than being alone with Evan. Because he’d come to realize that people were singing what they were feeling. They were singing if they had strong feelings about something or someone.

Connor couldn’t think of a more inconvenient time to realize that he maybe, possibly, was developing a crush on his new friend Evan.

He wasn’t sure if that’s what it was. He’d never really done the whole crush thing before. Just thinking about it made him queasy. 

It was just that, well, he’d noticed that Evan looked cute when he was singing his song about trees. He’d looked so excited, so animated, that Connor hadn’t been able to take his eyes off him.

That made him feel like he was a middle schooler fawning over a pop star. It was the truth though. And cute really was the best way to describe Evan’s performance. 

He took a bite of his sandwich as he tried to push that thought away. If he ended up serenading Evan in the middle of the cafeteria, he was going to kill whatever witch, demon, or ghoul was causing this. He’d take care of it himself. No Slayers necessary.

He watched as Jared finished his song with a loud “Yeah!” and collapsed backwards into the crowd that had swarmed his table.

“Crowd surfing really is the only way to travel!” Jared bellowed as the group sent him off towards the middle of the room.

Evan breathed in like he’d been holding his breath the whole time Jared had been singing. His eyes darted around frantically before he nodded to himself.

“No one’s watching,” Connor assured him.

“Yeah,” Evan mumbled.

“They’re all too busy with their own songs.”

A pair of sophomores proved his point when they walked by singing about how the school’s pizza tasted like garbage and they should know because their whole lives were garbage.

“So, what’re you thinking?” Connor asked casually. “Witch or demon?”

“I don’t know,” Evan said shakily. “But I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.”

A trio of cheerleaders jumped onto the table across from them and started singing about all the times they’d made out with each other’s boyfriends.

And wanted to make out with each other.

Connor raised his eyebrows when the one in the middle belted out that part and blew kisses at her friends. He grinned at Evan and said, “But you have to admit it’s been an interesting day.”

 

Spontaneous singing definitely livened things up that day. Connor thought it was safe to say this was the most fun he’d had at school since...

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had fun at school. Elementary school, probably.

So many funny things happened that he didn’t know how he’d remember them all. 

His math teacher tap danced around the room while she sang about how there were too many people in her marriage. Several of his classmates joined in as back-up singers and harmonized about equations that just couldn’t be solved.

Rodney Peters, the mouth-breather who sat behind him in English, got into a rap battle with Troy Lamont, the stoner all the parents thought was “such a good boy.” A rap battle about cheese that ended with them shouting the word “cheddarlicious.” 

The girls’ JV lacrosse team joined forces with the girls’ JV basketball team to form a flash mob in the middle of the courtyard. A flash mob in which they performed a song about how they would own the boys’ teams if they were given the chance.

The administrative assistants accidentally turned the loudspeaker on and sang a reggae-inspired song while they tried to help the principal get _A Thousand Miles_ out of his head. 

And so it went until the end of the day.

All fun and games until someone almost got hurt.

Alana Beck was the someone in question. 

Connor saw the smoke before he saw her, before he heard what had happened.

Alana had started singing as soon as the last bell rang. She started off slow, but the song picked up pace as she started listing everything on her to-do list. By the time she made it to her locker, she was on fire.

Literally. 

Well, not literally-literally, but she started spinning around uncontrollably until smoke began to pour out of her skin.

If her girlfriend hadn’t pushed her way through the crowd and grabbed hold of her, it could’ve ended in tragedy.

“I thought I was going to explode,” Alana whimpered into Tracy’s shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Tracy murmured. “You’re okay.”

The whole school seemed quieter after that. Connor wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he thought it did. 

The car ride home was definitely quiet. No one talked. No one sang. 

That wasn’t unusual when it had just been the two of them, but Connor knew that Joey never let things stay quiet for long.

Zoe didn’t get out of the car when she pulled up to their house. Connor glanced at Joey and saw that he wasn’t the only one wondering what was going on.

“We’re gathering at Raquel’s,” Zoe explained. “Tell Mom I won’t be home for dinner.”

She pulled away from the curb without waiting for a response.

Connor followed Joey up to the house. He wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure what. He knew Joey wanted an apology. He knew Joey was mad that they’d kept things from him.

For a second, for one insane second, he considered telling Joey the truth.

Not the Key truth.

The other truth. The truth about the thing he’d realized that day. That he may have realized. He still wasn’t sure what to think of it. He was scared to think about it too much, especially when other people were around. He really did not want to end up singing a song about his possible crush on Evan.

It would explain things though, wouldn’t it? Joey couldn’t – wouldn’t – stay mad if he thought they’d been secretive because they were on the verge of getting together.

He wouldn’t be surprised either. Not totally anyway. Not in Connor’s case. 

He wouldn’t be surprised that Connor had a thing for a guy. He knew Connor wasn’t straight. Their whole family did. 

Connor had made that clear years ago. He hadn’t said he was gay because he didn’t think he was. He wasn’t sure what label he’d use for himself. He’d never really cared enough to work it out. He wasn’t even sure if there was anything for him to work out.

He didn’t say that to Joey though. Any of it. He didn’t say any of it because he knew how Joey would react.

Joey would do his happy puppy dog thing and get so excited that Connor had confided in him that he’d end up coming up with some kind of horrifically embarrassing scheme and...

No. Just no. A world of no.

Connor opened his mouth to ask if Joey wanted to split a bag of popcorn. That was a safe question and Joey loved popcorn. If that didn’t get Joey to look at him, he didn’t know what would.

He shut his mouth when he heard leaves crunching behind them. He spun around and nearly passed out when he saw the figures walking towards them.

It wasn’t that he was scared of dolls. It was just...

Okay, he was slightly terrified of dolls. But who could blame them? Zoe had had this creepy looking wooden doll when she was a kid. She’d loved the fact that the thing freaked Connor out and had spent years leaving it in random places for Connor find, usually in the dark.

Connor couldn’t begin to guess how many times he’d gone into a dark room and found the doll standing there. Once she’d even put a knife in its hand. She’d lost tv privileges for a week after that one, but had cackled that it had been worth it.

The figures standing behind them resembled that doll so much that it made Connor dizzy. For a second, he wondered if this was some kind of ill-conceived revenge plan that the twins had come up with to make him apologize. He looked around to see if Zoe was hiding in the bushes somewhere and watching while he pissed himself as a trio of giant, life-sized wooden dolls closed in on them.

He forgot about that notion when he saw the look on Joey’s face. Joey looked nearly as terrified as he felt.

“Our master has sent us to collect the one who summoned him,” the doll in the middle said robotically.

Connor’s face scrunched up with confusion. He instinctively stepped closer to Joey when the doll on the right approached him. 

Joey gasped as the doll seized him and pulled a necklace out of his shirt. Connor blinked at that. Since when did Joey wear a necklace?

“I-I-” Joey stammered as the other dolls stepped forward to grab hold of him.

“You wear our master’s talisman,” the doll on the left said.

Connor squeezed his eyes shut as the dolls tried to pull Joey back down the sidewalk. 

He didn’t think his brain had ever spun this quickly while sober.

He tried to put the pieces together. 

Joey had summoned the dolls’ master. Did that mean there was an even bigger doll out there somewhere? Connor shuddered at the thought.

Did the fact that Joey had summoned the dolls’ master mean that they thought he was their boss? Was this a genie-like situation? Or was it going to go south fast? Would they keep Joey prisoner?

What if they figured out what he was? What if their master figured out Joey was the Key? 

They couldn’t figure that out. They couldn’t let Joey figure it out.

Connor acted on instinct. He leapt forward and declared, “I summoned your master.”

The dolls stopped in their tracks and tilted their heads at him. It was the creepiest thing he’d ever seen.

“But you don’t wear our master’s talisman,” the one holding Joey’s arms said.

“I gave it to Joey. I used it and then I gave it to Joey to wear.”

The dolls looked at each other like they weren’t sure whether they believed him.

“Is your master the forgiving type?” Connor wondered. “Because if he’s not, then you may want to think twice before taking my brother.”

Joey wheezed as the dolls tossed him to the side and reached for Connor. Connor glanced down long enough to see the look of shock crossing his brother’s face.

He hoped the shock would wear off soon and Joey would put aside his anger at Connor and get help.

Because Connor really didn’t feel like spending the night in a giant – possibly evil – doll’s lair.


	14. Chapter 14

In retrospect, Zoe probably should have taken Joey’s advice and talked to her mother as soon as she got home.

Joey was almost always right about these things. She hated to admit it, but she knew he was.

He was also optimistic to the point of being obnoxious and genuinely believed that all the world’s problems could be solved if people would just talk them out.

Usually, she felt like smiling and patting him on the head when he said that. She was starting to think he may have had a point this time though.

If she’d talked to her mother instead of storming up to her room and hiding there all night, she may have been able to avoid singing a song that sounded like it belonged in the musical _Rent_.

With her mother. First, with her mother and then with her father and then Joey joined in to beg them all to be nice and say they’re sorry. 

The song was so loud and so frantic that Zoe had trouble keeping up with it. She knew what she was singing. She was singing about how she wasn’t sure if she could trust her parents, how she hated that they couldn’t accept she was a Slayer, how she hated how easily everyone had turned against each other.

She only heard snippets of her parents’ parts. Her father assured her that she could trust them. Her mother sang that she hadn’t meant any harm, that she hadn’t understood what she was doing. 

Zoe pinched herself when the song was over. She pinched herself and winced because it was real, which meant that she really had said what she was thinking. Out loud. To her family. In song. Because apparently someone had decided to help Stormyvale citizens lower their therapy bills by making them express their feelings in song.

She chewed her lip as she looked around the room at her parents, who were frowning at the floor, and Joey, who was rocking back and forth on his heels like this was the most exciting thing to ever happen to him.

Which it probably was. 

She wondered if he understood that this was not a good thing, that it was something she was going to have to look into. Spontaneous singing? Invisible musical cues and orchestrations? Professional-looking choreography that none of them had learned?

This was not normal, not even by Stormyvale’s standards.

She took a breath and watched as Connor burst into the room and started singing a fast-paced reprise of the song the rest of them had just been singing.

Because there wasn’t anything strange about that. She rolled her eyes when she saw that Joey was bobbing his head to the beat.

She agreed with her father when he said Connor shouldn’t drive when he was that angry. She agreed because she didn’t want to be on the road with Connor when he was like that and because she wanted to get out of there.

Her mother’s expression was making her nervous. She was staring at Zoe like she was about to start singing a ballad in which she begged for forgiveness.

Zoe was not up for that, so she grabbed a banana, told her brothers to hurry up, and ran to the car as fast as her legs would carry her.

 

Any doubt Zoe had about whether the singing thing was actually a problem vanished by the time the first bell rang.

People were singing everywhere she looked. To her left, there was a chorus of students singing about how tired they were. To her right, she could see two teachers waltzing while they sang about budget cuts. 

And right in front of her, there were three Slayers standing by her locker and singing about how weird their mornings had been.

They finished their song before she reached them and laughed as they looked at each other.

“Okay, so the singing thing?” Nicole sputtered. “Not just my family then?”

“My sister and I sang it out when she accused me of stealing her sweater,” Kimmy giggled. “I thought it was kind of weird, but she’s in the fall musical, so she’s been doing stuff like that all week.”

“My mom left me a singing voicemail,” Cara said. “She does that sometimes though, so...”

“My brother and I sang about dinosaurs,” Nicole added. “He’s giving a presentation about them this afternoon. I thought it was weird that it was a musical presentation, but I don’t know. He’s a weird kid.”

Zoe could feel Nicole staring at her as she opened her locker. She focused on the task of putting her books away so that she didn’t have to turn around.

“What’d you sing about?” Nicole asked. “I bet you and Joey did a truly epic number.”

Zoe shrugged and adjusted her backpack. “Do we have any idea what’s causing this?”

The others shook their heads as the warning bell rang.

Zoe checked her phone before she silenced it. She still didn’t have any texts. That meant the older Slayers were either hard at work researching things that made people sing or still asleep.

She felt like slapping her forehead when she saw the time. Still asleep then. Definitely still asleep.

Part of her felt like she should send them all a warning text, but there was also a part of her that couldn’t wait until Sam and Fiona woke up and started singing at each other. She was sure she’d have a whole thread of amazing texts by lunchtime.

She decided to be nice and sent off a quick text before she went to homeroom. _FYI, the singing thing is everywhere._

 

Nicole slid into the seat next to Zoe as soon as their English teacher told them to pair up and discuss the reading. 

That wouldn’t have been strange when they were friends. A year ago, it would’ve been a given that they’d be partners. It would’ve been one of the few easy, automatic things that Zoe never had to worry about. 

That was one of the many things that had changed since their falling out. Neither of them had had a regular partner.

She raised an eyebrow at Nicole. “Hannah’s giving you the stink eye.”

“She can work with Emily today,” Nicole shrugged. She glanced over her shoulder quickly before leaning across her desk. “Kimmy told me what you did Friday.”

Zoe kept her eyes down as she pretended to flip through her notebook. “She did?”

“Zo-zo!” Nicole shoved her arm playfully. “When did you become such a badass?”

“About two days after I became a Slayer.”

Nicole bristled at that. “We were surprised to see you this morning. Kimmy thought you’d been suspended for beating up those guys.”

Zoe couldn’t help smirking at her notes. “The boys realized they’d been mistaken. They banged their heads together after they tripped over their feet. I was just the one to find them on the floor.”

Nicole let out a small laugh as she studied Zoe’s expression. She knew better than to ask if magic had been involved, but Zoe could tell she was dying to hear the truth.

“It’s a bit on the nose that Ms. Peters assigned us _The Crucible_ , isn’t it?”

“Well, she was wearing a blue band last week,” Zoe pointed out.

“I guess,” Nicole muttered. “What kind of spells do you think she does? They can’t be beauty spells or-”

Nicole snorted and dropped her head as Ms. Peters changed course and made a beeline for them.

“And what do you two think about Abigail Williams?”

Zoe could sense Nicole shifting uncomfortably next to her. She knew those twitches. Nicole hadn’t done the reading. She hadn’t even read a summary of the play online.

Zoe let her breath out in a huff. A year ago, she would’ve taken the lead and kept Ms. Peters from realizing Nicole hadn’t bothered with the assignment. She was tempted to keep her mouth shut and let Nicole squirm. She smiled tightly as she decided to be a good former best friend. 

“Honestly?” Zoe laughed. “She’s kind of the worst.”

“Totally,” Nicole agreed with a grin. 

 

Zoe knew Joey was hiding something the second she saw the way he was arguing with Jared.

Not arguing, actually. She realized that as she got closer to them.

There was definitely something suspicious about the way they’d been talking to each other though. She raised her eyebrows at Joey and waited for an explanation. She was disappointed when one didn’t come.

She knew she didn’t have the right to be disappointed that he wasn’t telling hers something. It wasn’t like they told each other everything. They told each other a lot, but she knew there were things they didn’t talk about.

And apparently whatever he’d been discussing with Jared before their French class began was one of them.

She kept glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as the class went on. She stared at him each time he self-consciously grabbed at the collar of his shirt. She noticed the way Jared glared at him every time he did that. She noticed the way Jared noticed her noticing and met his glare with one of her own.

Halfway through the class, she leaned forward and attempted to grab the thing Joey kept reaching for. He batted her hand away before she could, but she got close enough to see there was a chain around his neck.

“Are you wearing a necklace?” Zoe whispered.

His answer, if he’d even given one, was drowned out by the sound of their classmates performing a song about conjugating verbs. Zoe rolled her eyes as she felt herself being pulled into the chorus.

She tried again when class was over. She ran after Joey and was confused when she saw he was walking out with Jared. Like they were friends. She didn’t know what to make of that. She hadn’t thought Joey had any friends besides Evan.

“So, I heard you let Evan have it during lunch,” Joey grinned.

And suddenly it all made sense. Well, not all of it, but some. Enough that she wasn’t nearly as confused as she had been originally.

Jared grinned as he looked around the hall. “Are people talking about my song?”

Joey shook his head. “Not people, just Evan. Apparently, I sang the reprise when I ran into him in the bathroom.”

Jared glanced at him curiously. “Was yours straight out of the ‘80s too?”

Joey shook his head again. “Mine was the emo version. That’s what Evan said anyway.”

Zoe took advantage of his distraction and tried to pull the necklace out of his shirt. “What-”

Joey’s reflexes were better than she’d expected. Or maybe he’d seen her coming. She wasn’t sure. He jumped back and narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m going to be late for gym.”

Zoe turned on Jared when he was gone. She put a hand on her hip and stared until he threw his arms up in surrender.

“Don’t ask me!” Jared yelped. “I-”

“You know something.”

“I know lots of things.”

“Do you know why he’s wearing a necklace?”

“Are you saying your brother doesn’t have the right to wear a necklace?” Jared clucked his tongue and shook his head at her. “That’s awfully judgmental of you, Zoe. I would’ve thought-”

Zoe didn’t use her full Slayer strength to pin Jared against the wall. She hated to think how loud his shriek would’ve been if she’d done that. 

“What do you know?”

“I don’t-”

She pulled herself up to her full height and fixed him with the fiercest glare she could manage.

“We got it at the magic shop on Third!”

Jared cringed like he couldn’t believe he’d said that. 

Zoe didn’t let go of him, not even when the bell rang. “You took him to a magic shop? You took my-”

“Hey! Don’t act like he’s some innocent, naïve... I’m the victim! I was the one who was corrupted, wasn’t I? I had the white band. He’s the one who-”

Zoe closed her eyes and took a step back when she heard Ms. Peters ask why they were still in the hallway.

“Sorry,” Zoe muttered. She tugged at her backpack as she spun on her heel to go.

She could hear Jared mumbling about needing a late slip as she hurried down the hall.

At least, she was only late for art class. She could talk Mr. Nelson out of writing her up if she told him she’d taken her time because she’d suddenly been struck with the need to paint the sun.

It would be even better if she sang it.

She wondered if she could think of something that rhymed with the word ‘orange.’

 

Zoe stifled a yawn as she watched Joey pack up to go home. Living in a musical was exhausting. She picked at the paint on her hand while she waited for him to finish up.

Art class had been a mess. A literal mess, of the paint-throwing variety.

She was glad she didn’t have any active crushes that week. It had been bad enough being a back-up dancer while half her class sang about how their love was making them want to paint the world red.

Because red was the color of love and blood and Kyle Fetterman’s favorite glove.

His favorite glove that he had produced from his backpack and offered to Cindy Jackson like it was a flower. At least Cindy had the sense to turn it down. 

Kyle hadn’t seemed to notice though. He’d been too busy harmonizing with Garrett Walters while he sang about red roses and clown noses to realize that Cindy had dyed his glove black.

It was enough to make Zoe glad that no one in her art class seemed to have a crush on her. 

She nudged Joey’s arm until he looked at her. “So, what’d you sing about today? Besides Evan.”

Joey shrugged as he closed his locker. “Nothing really. We did a number that was straight out of _High School Musical_ during gym.”

He fidgeted with the chain around his neck until he caught her staring.

Zoe blinked at the ceiling as a plan popped into her head. She knew better than to ask Joey to show her his necklace. Her brother was as happy-go-lucky as could be, but he had a stubborn streak that went all the way to his core.

She accidentally-on-purpose bumped into him when she saw how he was struggling with his backpack. The movement made him drop his bag.

She lowered her hand so that she could surreptitiously snap a picture of the necklace when he bent over to get it. She pocketed her phone and willed herself to look as innocent as possible.

It didn’t work. 

He bolted up and frowned at her like he’d caught her red-handed. “Did you just take my picture?”

“What?” Zoe laughed stiffly. “No...”

“You... I thought I saw a flash.”

“It was probably a strobe light from the song those girls are doing over there.” 

Joey shrugged like he didn’t believe her. He didn’t say a word though.

He didn’t say a word as they walked to the car. He didn’t say a word once they were in the car. He didn’t even greet Connor when he slid into the backseat. 

Zoe tried not to let that bother her. She’d deal with him later, once she’d figured out what was up with his necklace.

Hopefully nothing. She hoped her brother had just developed a random interest in wearing gaudy jewelry. 

Gaudy jewelry that he’d bought at a magic shop...

It was possible. She knew there were all kinds of worthless things being marketed as charms that could protect you or make you popular or attractive or smart.

She liked to think Joey wasn’t that naïve, but it was better than the alternative. It was infinitely better than the idea that Joey had somehow caused all of this.

She dropped her brothers off and drifted down the street until she was out of their sight. She pulled over so she could check the picture she’d snapped and send it to the Watchers.

It was clearer than she’d expected it to be. That made her want to puff up with pride. Maybe she had a future in covert photography. Maybe she could pull a Lena and work for Heidi someday.

She allowed herself a minute to go through her texts. She hadn’t had a chance to check them all day. She’d meant to look during lunch, but the cafeteria had been so loud and...

It had been kind of amazing. Definitely the highlight of her day, especially since she hadn’t been one of the ones spilling their guts in front of half the school.

She laughed as she read about how Yael had spent the morning singing love ballads to her cats and Molly’s Economics class sang all their answers as they were writing them down. Molly said she thought she may have actually aced a test for once.

Sam and Fiona did not disappoint either. Zoe wasn’t surprised to hear they’d been sing-arguing all day. It had gotten to the point where Raquel had sent them out on an errand that they were now sure was actually a wild goose chase.

Zoe was about to ask if they needed help when she spotted something in the rearview mirror that made her skin prickle. She ducked down in her seat and peered out the window as carefully as she could.

Connor was being dragged down the street by a trio of giant ventriloquist dummies.

Zoe rubbed her eyes and looked again.

She wasn’t seeing things. That was actually what was happening.

She wondered what Connor had done to deserve that.

She shook her head to clear it. Connor could be a lot to handle, but she couldn’t imagine what he could’ve done to piss off a group of dolls.

Not unless he had secret doll friends that she didn’t know about. Or they were his dealers and he owed them money.

Neither of those ideas sounded totally outlandish when she stopped and thought about it.

She had to do something about it though. She knew that. She couldn’t in good conscience not do something while those guys dragged Connor away.

She had to follow them and see what they were up to.

She ducked her head as they went by her car. She sent a quick text to Sam and Fiona before pocketing her phone. She didn’t wait for a response. She didn’t wait to see if they were going to try to find her.

She closed her eyes and counted to twenty and set off on foot.


	15. Chapter 15

In retrospect, Evan probably should’ve suspected it was going to be one of _those_ days as soon as he started singing his letter out loud.

His brain didn’t automatically jump to the conclusion that some evil force must’ve put a singing curse on Stormyvale though. It probably should have given everything he had seen and heard over the years, but his mind very rarely went straight to the idea that something weird was going on.

And it wasn’t like it was totally unusual for him to sing while he wrote. He did things like that sometimes. He occasionally read his letters back to himself in an accent if he was bored and wanted to shake things up. (He usually went with a British accent, but he’d tried a southern one once because his grandmother was visiting and he’d spent the week watching a bunch of weepy dramas with her.)

And, okay, sure, sometimes he sang them. Usually without realizing it and almost always to the tune of whatever he was listening to.

He probably should’ve stopped to think about the fact that he wasn’t listening to anything that morning, that he was hearing music even though he hadn’t put anything on, that he was rhyming. That his words were coming out in rhymes, that his brain was automatically putting together a complex rhyming scheme.

He hadn’t though. He hadn’t thought about the fact that he didn’t recognize the melody. He hadn’t thought about the fact that his pop tart popped up at the perfect moment (just when he’d sang the word ‘pop’ and an invisible cymbal clanged). He hadn’t thought about the fact that he kept singing into his cast like it was a microphone and then recoiling as the song turned somber. 

He’d briefly thought about it when his mother called to check in. She’d left town the night before to track down a bail jumper and wanted to make sure he was up. He’d paused for a second when she asked why he was singing, but she’d had to go before he could come up with an answer.

He hadn’t thought about it on the bus ride to school, not even when the freshmen sitting in the front started singing about their Algebra homework. He’d just assumed that they were singing some new song he hadn’t heard yet. A new song that namechecked their Algebra teacher, Mr. Orson, and mentioned the dangers of living on a mouth to hell. A new song that featured an elaborate, synchronized dance break. A dance break where everyone on the bus, including the driver and Evan himself, instinctively knew their parts.

He probably should’ve thought something weird was going on at that point, but he hadn’t. He liked to think it was because he’d turned the volume up on his headphones so that he could only half-hear what the freshmen were singing. He liked to think that he would’ve given it more thought if his part in the dance break involved more than just swaying in his seat and waving his arms. He liked to think he would’ve realized something was up if he hadn’t been so tired that morning. 

He knew that wasn’t really the case though. Deep down, he knew this was always going to be something that he had to be hit over the head with to notice. 

 

As a general rule, Evan didn’t participate in class. He didn’t raise his hand. He never voluntarily answered the questions his teachers asked. He kept his head down and pretended not to hear unless he was forcibly pulled into the discussion. And even then, he found it impossible to come up with a timely response that made sense to people who weren’t in his head.

His teachers were always telling him he should speak up more. Not just because it hurt his grade when he kept his mouth shut, but because his essays proved he knew the material and had interesting things to say. 

Evan always tried to smile and nod when someone told him that. That was all he could manage to do when his teachers took it upon themselves to pull him aside after class. 

He only tried explaining his side of it when his mother told him about an email she’d received from the school or a meeting she’d attended. He would try telling her how panicked he got when he was put on the spot, how his brain shut down and any potentially intelligent thoughts he may have vanished the second he heard his name.

He knew she didn’t get it though. She tried, but she couldn’t understand why it was so hard for him. Every time the subject came up, she would listen carefully, sympathetically even, before asking if he wanted her to see if Dr. Sherman could bump up his next appointment.

That didn’t actually help him though. Talking to Dr. Sherman didn’t make it easier for him to speak up in school. Nothing Dr. Sherman or his mother or his teachers suggested made that any easier.

Nothing helped until he was struck by the singing curse that had taken over Stormyvale.

The singing curse that took control of his brain and made him decide to correct Ms. Thomas in song.

This song felt different than the letter one had. That song had made him feel like he was dancing around something, like his brain was torn in two and there was a part of him that was fighting the urge to address something he didn’t feel like addressing.

This song wasn’t like that. This song was fun and upbeat and allowed him to show off his extensive knowledge of trees. It allowed him to participate a way that proved his teachers were right. He was capable of sharing his insights in a way that added to his classmates’ understanding of the topic at hand.

He felt dizzy when it was over. He collapsed back onto his chair and breathed heavily for a minute while he willed himself to disappear. He cautiously lifted his head up when he realized that wasn’t happening. He turned to Connor and asked, “Did I just...”

Connor nodded like he didn’t know what to say.

Evan’s hands twitched around in front of him. “I didn’t... That wasn’t a dream?”

That question made Connor look so amused that Evan wanted to slide under his desk until the bell rang.

Connor raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you think you’re asleep?”

Evan held his breath while he looked around. Ms. Thomas had resumed her lesson. No one was paying attention to him anymore. No one except for Jared, who looked like he was humming a song that Evan suspected was the one he’d just sang.

So, that was coming. He knew that was coming.

He pinched his arm and flinched when it hurt. He’d been expecting it to hurt, but there had been a part of him – a small part of him – that had been hoping this was all some wacky Broadway nightmare.

“That was not normal,” Evan whispered frantically.

Connor nodded slightly as he leaned forward to see what Ms. Thomas was writing on the board. 

Evan squeezed his eyes shut and tried to look on the bright side.

At least he wasn’t the guy who had serenaded his locker because it kept his weed safe.

 

Evan didn’t hear the doorbell at first. 

Or, rather, he did, but he chose to ignore it. Not for the usual reason. He didn’t ignore it because he was afraid there was a client at the door. A client he would be expected to help since his mother wasn’t there.

He ignored it because he thought it was the opening note to another song. He couldn’t handle that. He was so over the whole singing thing that he didn’t think he’d ever sing again. Not willingly and definitely not in public.

It didn’t matter that he was alone. It didn’t matter that the only emotions he was currently experiencing were boredom with a side of frustration because his Calculus homework was making him want to bash his head against the desk.

He wondered if this was the universe’s way of helping him out. Maybe he was about to sing a song that would help him understand his notes.

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair and waited for it to begin. 

He almost fell to the ground when he heard someone pounding on the door and yelling for him to let them in.

Make that two someones. Evan swallowed nervously when he saw that Joey and Jared were standing by the door and peering in like they weren’t sure if someone was inside. He felt like cursing when they spotted him.

“Open up!” Jared called. He pounded on the door again for good measure.

Evan took a breath and crept across the office so he could lean against the doorframe. “Is something chasing you?”

“What?”

“Are your lives in some kind of immediate danger?”

“Yours will be if you don’t-”

Evan pulled the blinds down before Jared could finish his threat. He almost tripped over his feet as he hurried to close the window shades too.

“Evan,” Joey whimpered. He bobbed his head up and down as he tried to catch Evan’s eye. “Come on. Let us-”

“I’m not letting you in so you can join forces and sing a second reprise of your screw Evan song!”

“That’s not why we’re here,” Joey insisted. “We need help. They took Connor!”

Evan looked from Joey, who was practically oozing with sincerity, to Jared, whose expression was somewhere between furious and indifferent, and back again. He sighed and went to unlock the door.

“What do you mean they took Connor? They who?”

“The puppet guys,” Joey mumbled. He shoved his hands in his pockets and flopped down on the couch across from Evan’s desk.

Jared met Evan’s stare and shrugged as though to say ‘don’t ask me.’

“The puppet guys?” Evan repeated. He let his breath out in a huff. “Okay. I’ll bite. Who are the puppet guys?”

“Do you think we’d be here if we knew that?” Jared snapped.

“Why are you here?” Evan countered. “You don’t even like Connor.”

Jared shrugged again. “Joey needed a ride.”

Evan felt a flash of panic when he heard that. “And he called you?”

“Can we save the jealous act for later? There are puppet guys roaming around and snatching people from their homes.”

Evan’s mouth twitched as he looked between them. “When you say puppet guys is the emphasis on the puppet part or the guy part? I mean, are they guys in puppet masks or-”

“They look like giant ventriloquist dummies,” Joey said. “And they took Connor because...”

Joey stopped speaking and raised his eyebrows at Jared.

“We may or may not have summoned their boss,” Jared finally said.

“Connor told them it was him, but...” Joey restlessly drummed his fingers on his thighs. 

Something flipped inside Evan’s stomach. Connor had lied to protect Joey. Because Joey couldn’t get caught. Because Joey couldn’t be pulled into something that might draw attention to him.

“You...” Evan sighed at the two of them. “You did this? The singing curse? This was your doing?”

“We didn’t...” Joey slumped down in his seat like a kid being lectured. “I just wanted the fighting to stop. I just wanted everyone to get along again. I just...”

“I didn’t know it would do all this,” Jared said firmly. “I’m the innocent here! Joey’s the one who-”

“It was your idea! You were the one who wanted to... How’d you put it? Restore light and joy and happiness to our town?”

“I didn’t say that! That’s what the book... You’re the one who-” Jared recoiled like Evan had done something a lot worse than stomp on his foot. “Ow!”

“Guys,” Evan muttered. He nodded at the window, at the shadow looming next to the window. “Shut up a second, okay?”

Evan inched forward and peered outside. 

Sure enough, there were two figures that could best be described as puppet guys standing outside the office. 

He acted on instinct. He shoved Jared’s shoulder and pointed at his mother’s office. “Go in there. Both of you. Go in there and-”

Jared didn’t need to be told a third time. He didn’t look back. He ran across the office and threw himself into the room. 

“What-” Joey started.

“Go,” Evan whispered. “There’s a phone in there. Use it to call Maggie. She’ll be able to get you out.”

Joey still wouldn’t budge. Evan chewed his lip and looked at the window. The puppet guys were no longer pretending to hide. They were standing there with their arms up like they were about to smash their way in.

Evan shook his head when he realized Joey wasn’t going to do this the easy way. There wasn’t time for him to worry about that. He closed his eyes and muttered an incantation and sent Joey soaring across the room.

He hit the button to seal his mother’s office shut as soon as he heard Joey land inside. He had a feeling this would be the incident that finally forced his mother to find someone to fix the button under her desk.

He just hoped he’d be around to see it happen.

 

“Don’t bother.”

Evan rubbed his head as he struggled to sit up. He blinked around at his surroundings while he tried to get his bearings. 

He was in a club. It only took him a second to realize that. He was in one of the clubs his mother sent him to sometimes when she needed his help on a case. His head was hurting too much for him to figure out which one this was.

He felt someone grab his arm as he tried to steady himself. He was about to shrug the person off when he realized it was Connor. 

“Don’t bother trying to escape,” Connor muttered. “They’re faster than they look.”

Evan swallowed heavily when he saw that they were surrounded on all sides by the puppet guys. 

“I mean, feel free to try if you want,” Connor said brightly. “Just know that they’ll force you into an elaborate dance number which will end up being pointless. You won’t win.”

“They make you dance? Why do they-”

“Because it’s fun,” a melodic voice called from the stage above them.

Evan turned to watch as a red-skinned demon in a blue suit tap danced his way across the stage. 

The demon beamed as he slid towards them. “And fun is what I’m all about.”

Evan looked at Connor in alarm. This demon was all about fun? He didn’t trust that. He didn’t trust that for a second.

“Please tell me your being here is part of a foolproof escape plan,” Connor whispered.

Evan didn’t bother answering. He knew it wasn’t necessary for him to answer. He knew his face had given him away when Connor started cursing under his breath.


	16. Chapter 16

“You don’t have a plan?”

“What?”

“There’s no plan. You’re telling me you let yourself get captured without working out a plan first?”

“I, uh... Joey said you... Did you have a plan when you let yourself get captured?”

“That was different.”

“How? How was that different?”

Connor let his breath out in a huff and leaned back against the wall. There were things he wanted to say and things he didn’t want to say – to sing, really. He could keep himself from talking. It was the singing part he couldn’t control.

He kept his eyes on the ground when he saw the demon watching them.

Sweet. The demon called himself Sweet. 

Sweet hadn’t been amused when Connor asked him if he liked Dr. Pepper. Or maybe he had. It was kind of hard to tell.

Connor watched his hands as they flexed in front of him. He watched them like watching them would keep him from looking at Evan. 

He took a breath and decided to ignore Evan’s question. He lowered his voice so that it was barely above a whisper. “So, what’s the plan then? We wait here until someone finds us?”

“Who do you think is going to find us?”

Connor’s head popped up at that. “Your mom?”

“My mom’s out of town. It’ll be days before she even-”

“Zoe then. Or...” He stopped himself before he said Joey. “Someone will-”

“No one’s going to come looking for me. Trust me.”

He said it so plainly that Connor could tell he thought that was a fact. An undeniable fact.

Evan sighed and rocked back against the wall.

“Then why did you let yourself get caught?”

The words flew out of Connor’s mouth before he could stop them. Okay, so maybe he couldn’t control the talking part either.

“What?”

Connor tugged at his hair and very purposely looked away when he saw the way Sweet was watching them. “You let them capture you without-”

“I didn’t _let_ them capture me. I-”

“You let them capture you without coming up with a plan, without even thinking that someone would-”

“You didn’t have a plan either!”

“That’s different.”

“Why?”

“Because your mother’s a Slayer. Because you-”

“Should’ve known better?”

“Grew up knowing about this shit.”

Evan didn’t say anything for a minute, which was fine with Connor. He didn’t feel like arguing anymore. Because arguing was emotional and emotions led to singing.

Uncontrollable singing. If he started singing again, he was going to...

He didn’t know what he’d do. Explode, probably. He knew that was what Sweet was waiting for. The demon had said he could sense the fire inside Connor and was dying to see it come out to play.

“They would’ve taken Joey,” Evan murmured. “If I hadn’t gotten him to safety, they would’ve taken him and-”

“Do you have some kind of death wish?”

Connor would’ve cringed at his outburst if his heart hadn’t been pounding so fast that he couldn’t tell if the beat he was hearing was the start of a song or the traitor beneath his breast. 

“What?” Evan asked hoarsely.

“Because that’s the kind of information I should-”

“Why would you say that? I don’t... I...”

The pounding was getting louder. Connor squeezed his eyes shut when he realized that.

Not his heart then. Not unless he really was about to explode.

Which actually would’ve been preferable to singing at that moment. 

He closed his mouth and held his breath like doing that would keep him from singing. 

He buried his head in his arms until he realized that the intro he was hearing wasn’t the start of his song.

It was Evan’s.

 

“Well, that was disappointing.”

Connor didn’t look up when he sensed Sweet sidling up to him. He was not in the mood for the demon’s games.

“No smoke, no flames, not even a...” Sweet sighed dramatically and knelt down so that Connor had no choice but to look at him. “Are you just going to sit there? Your boyfriend-”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Connor muttered. His spine went rigid when he realized what he’d said and who he’d said it to.

Evan was the one thing keeping him from becoming Sweet’s latest spouse.

Because that was what happened when you summoned Sweet. He took you back to his dimension and married you. It didn’t matter how old you were. (“Age doesn’t matter when you’ve been around as long as I have.”) It didn’t matter what gender you were. (“I’m a forward-thinking demon. You have to be to these days.”) It didn’t even matter what species you were. (“You won’t mind sharing a room with a slug demon, will you?”)

The only thing that discouraged him was the idea that his prospective spouse’s heart belonged to someone else.

Which was why Connor had claimed he was already taken. It hadn’t taken him long to realize that was the obvious way to keep from becoming Sweet’s husband.

The Evan part had been accidental. He’d sung it without thinking it out, without consciously realizing what he was singing.

He hadn’t used Evan’s name, but apparently referencing the fact that Evan’s mother was a Slayer had been enough for Sweet’s minions to track him down.

Because Sweet wanted a show. If he couldn’t have Connor, then he wanted a show. A show in which Connor either burned to death or professed his love for Evan in song.

Sweet didn’t seem to care which way this played out as long as he was entertained.

Apparently, Evan’s song had not been entertaining enough for him.

Connor couldn’t blame him for that. 

Evan’s song hadn’t been entertaining. It had been sad and depressing and...

Sweet had a point.

Connor shouldn’t be keeping his distance. Ignoring Evan was not the right way to handle this. It was confirming what Evan had sung. It was confirming the idea that Evan didn’t have anyone who cared enough to notice when something was bothering him.

“Shall I put on some mood music?” Sweet crooned suggestively.

Connor didn’t dignify that with a response. 

This was just his luck. 

He’d spent countless hours imagining what would happen if he was ever pulled into the craziness that had consumed his town. He’d imagined what it would be like if he ever came face to face with a demon. He’d imagined that it would be a short interaction. He’d figured the demon would rip his throat out immediately and move on with its life.

He’d figured he would just be a statistic or possibly a cautionary tale. Proof that smoking weed and acting recklessly caused you to meet a justifiably gruesome end.

When Zoe had been called, he’d briefly entertained the idea of joining her cause, of doing something productive with his life, of being a hero. 

Or, you know, hero-adjacent. 

Hero-adjacent sounded more like it, really.

He’d given up that notion when he realized that becoming a Slayer hadn’t changed the way Zoe saw him. It had just given her the strength to fight back when she felt like he was terrorizing her.

The physical strength, that was. She’d always possessed the ability to give as good as she got verbally.

When he’d realized that she wasn’t taking his offers to help seriously, he’d gone back to the idea that he was going to become a statistic. It was either that or some stupid demon would decide to hold him hostage so it could trap Zoe.

Connor had a speech planned out in case that happened. A speech about how hell would freeze over before his sister came to his rescue.

It was just his luck that the first demon to take an interest in him didn’t want to eat him or capture a Slayer. It was just his luck that Joey had summoned the one demon that simply thrived on chaos and things it deemed to be fun.

Connor kicked a stool over as he walked away from Sweet. He ignored the way that made Sweet laugh. He ignored the nagging thought that told him his father was right. He really did act like a child when he was upset. 

The sound of the stool falling made the doll minions turn on him and tilt their heads at their master in a way that made Connor’s blood go cold. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sweet wave his hand dismissively. 

He slid down the wall by the fire exit until he was sitting next to Evan. He moved slowly, like he was approaching a wounded animal.

Which...

He dropped that thought and stared at Evan until he lifted his head off his knees.

He felt like cursing out loud when he saw Evan’s expression. He really should’ve thought this out before he crossed the room.

He rolled his shoulders and stared at the ceiling. “You want to talk about it?”

Evan’s knuckles went white as he gripped his knees. “Do you think I’d be sitting over here if I wanted to talk about it?”

Fair. That was fair.

Connor nodded to himself.

He chanced a glance at Evan and saw that he’d gone back to looking like he was catatonic. He was gazing at the wall this time though, so that was progress. Connor liked to think that was progress.

He took a breath and rolled up his sleeve. He picked at a scar above his wrist. “This is from the time I tried to slit my wrists.”

He didn’t have to look at Evan to know that his posture had suddenly gone rigid.

Connor kept going like he hadn’t noticed. He tugged at the neck of his shirt. “The bruising’s gone, but if you look closely, you can see a mark from the time I tried to hang myself.”

Evan’s mouth opened and closed several times before he managed to whisper, “You...”

Connor nodded numbly. He gestured at Evan’s cast. “Is that why you’re in therapy?”

Evan hesitated a moment before shaking his head. “I, uh... I didn’t... I didn’t know I... I mean, I knew how I was feeling that day, but I didn’t... I didn’t climb the tree to-to jump. I just...”

Connor swallowed sharply.

He hadn’t known. Evan hadn’t realized that he had tried to kill himself until Sweet’s spell forced him to sing about how he’d broken his arm. 

“It wasn’t planned,” Evan mumbled. His eyes very quickly flickered from Connor’s neck to his hand. “I’ve never done anything like...”

“Your mom’s never come home to find you lying in a puddle of your own blood?”

Evan recoiled at that. “You... Joey’s never said anything about...”

He squeezed his eyes shut like he thought he was saying something ridiculous.

Connor absentmindedly twisted his hands in front of him. “That’s because he doesn’t know. None of them do.” He picked at his wrist again. “I did this years ago. It was an experiment, mostly. I was helping my mom with dinner and she left the room and I just... I went the wrong way, so it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. She rushed me to the hospital. I told her my hand had slipped. She believed me.”

His cheeks puffed out before he took a breath. “And this,” he poked at his neck. “I brought part of the ceiling down when I tried last year. My dad was downstairs and-”

He stopped speaking when Evan let out a startled laugh.

“The sex swing,” Evan huffed. “Joey told me you destroyed your ceiling when you tried to put up a sex swing.”

Connor blanched at the thought. “Do you think the monks knew about that? I still don’t get how this all works. Did they have access to my family’s memories? Did they have to, like, manually program them in Joey or...”

Evan shook his head. “I don’t know... I don’t... Did you tell your dad it was a sex swing or-”

“You’ve met my father. You think he came up with that on his own?”

“Why would you tell him that? I mean-”

“You think it would’ve been better if I’d told him I’d tried to off myself?”

Evan’s face went blank again. Connor closed his eyes when he saw that.

“Why’d you do it?”

Evan’s question came out so quietly that Connor thought he’d imagined it. He tilted his head and let go of that notion when he saw the way Evan was squinting at him.

He was tempted to keep his mouth shut. If he’d been asked that question at any other time by any other person...

“I don’t know,” Connor sighed. “It’s not like there’s one concrete, solid reason.”

Evan nodded sheepishly. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have-”

“No,” Connor shook his head swiftly. “No. It’s fine. It’s just... I have these moments, these days even, where I feel like nothing matters. Where I wonder why I’m here and what the point of it all is and it feels like... It feels like I’m going to explode if I don’t do something about it. It’s just... It’s just a lot, you know.” 

He glanced at Evan curiously. “That’s not why you... Is it?”

Evan’s eyes widened as he gazed at his cast. He kept looking at it like he didn’t recognize it, like he was trying to mentally detach it from his body. 

“I... No. I don’t know. Maybe. Sort of.”

Connor shrugged because he got it. The uncertainty, the confusion. He got it.

“Do you ever talk to Joey about-”

“About this?” Evan squeaked. His arm twitched as he stared at it. “No. He-”

“Wouldn’t get it?” Connor smirked.

“It would be like telling...” Evan’s voice trailed off uncertainly.

“A puppy they’re not going to live forever?”

“Joey is very puppy-like, isn’t he?” Evan snorted. “Do you think the monks planned it that way or-”

The rest of Evan’s question was drowned out by a loud banging noise. They both leaned back against the wall and flinched as the door to the club suddenly burst open.

Connor rubbed his eyes and leaned forward to watch as the doll minions came stomping back inside. He glanced at Evan and saw that he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t noticed they’d left.

All three of the dolls were working together to restrain their latest captive as she flailed around. 

“Is that...” Evan started.

“Zoe,” Connor confirmed.

Evan nodded slowly. “Do you think she has a plan?”


	17. Chapter 17

Zoe didn’t have a plan.

Well, she did, but getting caught hadn’t been part of it.

Who knew that giant wooden dolls could move that quietly?

She would’ve been embarrassed if she weren’t so irritated. Irritated with the dolls for sneaking up on her, irritated with Connor for doing whatever he did to become a musical demon’s hostage, irritated with herself for not being able to get away from the dolls. She was starting to think she needed lessons on how to free herself from someone’s grasp. 

Her Slayer strength hadn’t been enough to get the dolls to let go. They really were surprisingly strong and fast and...

She was just glad Fiona hadn’t been there to witness the fight. Or Kirsten. 

Kirsten never would’ve let her hear the end of it. Fi would’ve dropped the subject eventually because Sam would’ve given her a quiet, but firm, lecture about being nice to her friends.

Zoe absentmindedly looked at the skylight above her. She squinted at it like she could will something to happen. She looked for shadows, for signs of movement, anything that would suggest she wasn’t alone.

Fi had said they were on their way. That had been at least twenty minutes ago. Surely that meant they were somewhere in the vicinity of the club by now, didn’t it?

Zoe hoped it did. She hoped it meant a team of Slayers was about to come crashing through the windows with ropes and weapons and torches to burn the puppet guys.

She wasn’t holding her breath though. Knowing her luck, it was probably going to take her friends a while to dance their way across town.

She didn’t say that out loud. She played dumb and pretended to be weak until the demon said that he could sense her powers. He knew she was a Slayer. She squeezed her eyes shut when she heard that and told him there was a whole army of Slayers heading his way. She did her best to make it sound like it would be in his best interest to let them go.

All three of them. Because Evan had somehow gotten pulled into Connor’s mess. 

She wondered how she’d missed that. He must’ve been brought in through the side door. 

The demon nodded at his minions and told them to take Zoe to his other guests.

She scoffed at that and made it clear that she was perfectly capable of crossing the room on her own.

Which seemed to endear her to the demon. He said he liked her spunk.

“Are you going to let us go?” Zoe demanded.

“In time, perhaps,” the demon cooed. “I haven’t decided yet.”

Zoe turned on her heel and stalked over to the boys without looking back. 

She wondered if it would be worth it to try to fight their way out. There were three of them and four demons. It could be worse. Much worse. She liked those odds.

She could handle the fighting portion, naturally, and Evan could cast a spell to open the doors or knock someone out. Maybe. Possibly. She wasn’t sure how powerful he was or what kind of ingredients he carried with him.

Which was strange when she thought about it. He was Joey’s best friend. That seemed like something she should know.

She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at Connor.

And Connor could stay out of the way and try his best not to get killed. 

“What?” Connor asked sharply when he saw how she was glaring at him.

“Nothing,” Zoe snapped.

“Why’re you-”

“What did you do?” 

“What did _I_ do?” Connor let out a barking laugh.

“It’s bad enough that you got yourself caught up in... whatever this is. Why did you have to go and drag Evan into it?”

“You think I dragged Evan here?”

“Not literally, not by yourself, but you must’ve done something to-”

“It’s not his fault,” Evan whispered. “I’m here because...” He swallowed audibly. “Because they were after Joey. They would’ve gotten him if I hadn’t-if _we_ hadn’t-”

“Shut up,” Connor hissed fiercely. “Oh my God. Are you trying to...”

Connor’s mouth formed a thin line. He folded his arms across his chest and glowered at the stage. Zoe glanced over her shoulder to see what he was glaring at. 

The demons, naturally. He was glaring at the red demon and the three puppets. They didn’t seem to notice. They were too busy playing some kind of clapping game. 

Evan blinked and scooted back like he wanted to melt into the wall. Zoe raised her eyebrows when she saw that his twitches actually seemed to be making Connor feel bad.

“Joey?” Zoe huffed. “Why-”

Connor pulled his phone out of his pocket, peeked at the stage, sighed, and composed a text.

Zoe jumped when she saw her phone flash inside her jacket. She didn’t know why. She’d been expecting it to do that.

_Joey summoned those guys._

Zoe did a double take when she saw Connor’s text. _What do you mean Joey summoned them?_

Connor made a face and shrugged at her as though to ask what part of this she wasn’t understanding. _They wanted to take him with them because he summoned them._

Zoe chewed her lip while she studied him. _So, you told them you did it?_

Connor shrugged again and nodded slightly.

Zoe rolled her eyes. _Joey can barely even float a pencil. You expect me to believe he’s responsible for all this?_

She watched as Connor’s frown deepened when he saw her text. She kept typing without waiting for a response. _You expect me to believe you willingly took the fall for him?_

_Believe what you want. It’s the truth._

“Why?” Zoe blurted out. She felt like clasping a hand over her mouth when she realized she’d spoken out loud. 

_He’s my brother._

Zoe scoffed at that reply. Her fingers hovered above the keyboard as she debated whether she wanted to ask if he would’ve taken the fall for her.

She put her phone down when she decided she didn’t want to know the answer.

She tilted her head at Connor and was struck with the thought there was more to it than brotherly love. Connor’s expression was making that clear. Connor was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a good liar.

He’d once said that he didn’t see the point in lying when no one believed him anyway.

She shoved that thought to the side. That was a question for another time, a time when they weren’t being held hostage by a group of demons.

She scrolled through her phone until she found Evan’s number. Her mouth twisted to the side when she saw the text thread was empty. 

That was odd. It wasn’t like she texted Evan a lot, but she was sure there had been times – numerous times – when she’d asked him if he knew where Joey was. 

And she never deleted texts.

Almost never. Only if they were negative or from someone she wanted out of her life.

She rolled her shoulders as she tried not to worry about that. It was possible her phone was just glitching again. It did weird things sometimes. She was probably due for an upgrade.

She sighed and stared at the phone as she tried to think of the best way to ask Evan how many demons he thought he could take out.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and decided that wasn’t an option. The more she looked at him, the easier it was for her to see that something had him spooked.

Which was odd because she knew for a fact that he’d been in scarier situations than this. She’d heard the stories from his mother and from Joey.

Mainly from his mother, which was also odd. The more she thought about that, the weirder it seemed.

She looked up when she sensed someone approaching them. The demon and his henchmen. She braced herself for that, but they didn’t seem interested in fighting.

Her suspicion was confirmed when the demon looked at Connor and said it was time for them to make their exit. 

He grinned at Zoe and said, “There’s a team of Slayers circling this building and I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

Zoe’s face scrunched up when she saw how those words made Connor squirm.

The demon looked from Connor to Evan and back again. “Last chance...”

Zoe was so busy staring at the demon and trying to figure out what he was singing about that she almost missed the fact that Connor had suddenly decided to pin Evan to the wall.

“Sorry about this, but I really don’t want to go to hell...” Connor muttered before he...

Zoe blinked and looked around uncomfortably. Just when she’d thought there was nothing else that could surprise her, Connor had to go and kiss Evan.

Really kiss him, like...

It was the most awkward kiss she’d ever seen and not just because it involved her brother. She was standing way too close to them, for one. She cleared her throat and tried to inch away as subtly as she could.

It was a desperate kiss, a sloppy kiss. She pressed a hand to her forehead and focused on the demon, who looked slightly disappointed when they pulled apart.

“Well, that was a letdown,” the demon sighed. “No confessions? No music? No songs?”

He shook his head at his minions. “Next time I’m summoned by a human teenager, remind me to take their phones first. It was foolish of me to expect passion when they’re hypnotized by those things.”

The puppets nodded obediently.

The demon stared at the ceiling when the doors to the club suddenly flew open. He smirked at the group of Slayers as they came pouring inside.

“And that’s our cue...” He snapped his fingers, instantly causing a portal to appear behind him. The puppets immediately stepped through it. The demon turned to look at Connor. “You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

Connor’s eyes widened as he shook his head.

The demon grabbed Zoe’s arm when he passed her. “He’s hiding something from you, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Zoe blinked as he sashayed through the portal. His laughter continued to fill the room long after he was gone.

 

They didn’t say anything until they got to Zoe’s car. 

She lingered behind just long enough to assure Sam and Fiona that the demon was gone. They barely seemed to hear her. They were too busy singing what Zoe hoped was the last song of the night.

She inhaled sharply as she thought about that, about what would happen if the singing continued even though the demon had vanished. 

She didn’t feel like singing, not even a little bit. She hoped that meant the spell was fading. 

She climbed in the car and buckled her seatbelt and stared at the dashboard like it held all the answers she wished to know.

“So,” Zoe finally began. She glanced from Connor, who looked exhausted, to Evan, who kept touching his lips and jumping like he hoped no one had noticed what he was doing, to her phone.

There were over a dozen texts waiting for her. Most of them were from the other Slayers. Several of them rhymed. She wondered if they’d been singing while they’d been typing.

The most recent one was from Joey. He sounded frantic. Maggie had just arrived to let him out – she frowned when she saw that – and he was panicking about the fact that Evan and Connor had both been kidnapped.

Zoe exhaled loudly and told him to calm down, that she’d rescued them.

The response was instantaneous. Her phone exploded with a series of exclamation points and emojis. It took Joey a minute to get around to using actual words. When he did, it was clear that Maggie had ordered him to tell Zoe to bring everyone back to Heidi’s office.

Zoe started the engine, but decided to wait a moment before putting the car in drive.

She tapped her fingers on her chin and looked at the boys again. “Okay. What was that back there?”

Poor choice of words. She knew that as soon as she said them. She couldn’t help laughing when she saw the boys’ expressions. She raised her eyebrows at Connor. “Why’d you take the fall for Joey?”

She shook her head when he opened his mouth. “The truth.”

She turned around to look Evan in the eye when Connor didn’t budge. “What do you two know that I don’t? About Joey. You know something about Joey.”

Zoe chewed her lip when no one responded. “Is he into something he shouldn’t be into? Is he-”

“He’s not real,” Evan blurted out.

Connor twisted around to glare at him.

“I mean, he’s real... real-ish,” Evan cringed and stared at his shoes. “He’s...”

Evan took a breath and twisted his hands in his lap before looking up and launching into a speech that Zoe had never expected to hear.

A speech that confused her and angered her and broke her heart.

A speech that explained some things. 

A speech that her gut told her was factually accurate.

She balled her hands into fists and stared blankly out the window. She struggled to breathe. The air wheezed out of her when she did.

She turned to Connor and punched his arm harder than she’d intended. 

“Ow!” Connor groaned. He rubbed the spot she’d hit and narrowed his eyes. “What was that for?”

“You knew!” Zoe cried. “You knew what he was. You knew-”

“Would you have believed me?”

Zoe looked away uncertainly.

“I didn’t think you would want to know the truth,” Connor whispered. “I didn’t think you’d want to know that I... that Joey’s not really...”

Zoe nodded stiffly. “But I’m supposed to protect him.”

She caught Evan’s eye in the rearview mirror. “That’s what you said, wasn’t it?”

“He needs to be protected,” Evan said softly.

Zoe gripped the steering wheel and shifted around in her seat. “Okay. Good to know.”

 

They were ambushed before they’d even managed to get out of the car.

Maggie flew across the lawn with her phone in her hand. It took Zoe a second to see that she was facetiming with Evan’s mother.

She threw Evan’s door open and practically pulled him out of the car.

“You’re staying with me,” Maggie hissed.

Evan blinked as he looked from Maggie to the phone in her hand. “What?”

“You’re staying with me until your mother returns.”

“Maggie,” Heidi said calmly. “It’s fine. He’s fine.” She smiled as she tried to study Evan. “No more broken bones, right?”

Evan nodded dazedly.

Zoe tilted her head as she watched him. That question had struck a nerve. She could see that. Joey could see it too, judging from the way he was frowning.

Jared didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy laughing at a couple square dancing down the street. 

Connor noticed. Zoe watched as he lifted his hand up like he wanted to put it on Evan’s shoulder. It hovered in the air for a moment before he let it flop back down to his side.

“This case is just about done,” Heidi went on. “I should be home tomorrow night.”

“Okay,” Maggie nodded. “I can put Evan up for a night.”

Heidi tried to catch her son’s eye. “Do you want to stay with-”

“It doesn’t matter what he wants!” Maggie cried. “If he dies, it’ll be on me. You know it will. I’m not losing my best friend because her son-”

“He can stay with us,” Zoe blurted out. She grinned as she looked at her brothers. “He can stay in Connor’s room if Joey’s still mad at him.”

Zoe laughed when she saw the way all four boys were gaping at her. 

“It-it’s fine,” Evan sputtered. “I’ll, uh, I’ll go with Maggie. It’s just one night, right?”

“Two at the most,” Heidi assured him.

“Okay,” Evan nodded rapidly.

Maggie hung up after promising Heidi she’d make sure Evan didn’t do anything stupid while she was gone and slid her phone back into her purse.

“Do you want to get Chinese?” Maggie asked soothingly. “You like Chinese.”

“Yeah, sure,” Evan muttered. He put his head down as he followed her to her car.

Connor turned on Zoe as soon as they were gone. “What was that?”

Zoe smiled innocently. “What was what?”

“That... you... why did you-”

“Suggest Evan sleep in your room? I thought it would give you guys a chance to talk... or not talk, if that’s what you prefer these days.”

That got Jared’s attention. He spun around so fast that Zoe wondered if he’d pulled something.

“What’s this now?” Jared chuckled. His whole face lit up as he smirked at Connor. 

Zoe bit her lip to keep from laughing. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the way Joey was studying Connor.

“Is she saying what I think she’s saying?” Joey asked quietly. “You and Evan...”

“They kissed,” Zoe grinned. “To keep Connor from going to hell.”

Jared’s mouth opened and closed several times before he started laughing hysterically. “Oh, God. Please don’t tell me that kissing Evan Hansen is necessary if you want to avoid going to hell.”

“You kissed Evan?” Joey gasped.

“There are all different kinds of hell dimensions, aren’t there?” Jared said thoughtfully. “You think I can request one that’s, like, all smooth jazz and seedy gin joints? Or how about the beach? My mom always says the beach is hot as hell. Do you think there’s a beach hell? I could deal with that.”

Joey continued to gape at Connor. “Is that why you two have been so weird lately?”

“No,” Connor said quickly. “No... It’s... It’s not Evan’s fault. It’s mine. It’s all me. I’m the one who...”

“Evan?” Jared scoffed. “You like Evan?”

Zoe was starting to regret her decision to tease Connor. 

And she had been teasing. At least, she thought she had.

This kind of opportunity presented itself so rarely that she wasn’t entirely sure.

She didn’t think Connor had ever even come close to expressing an interest in another person. And not just romantically. She couldn’t remember him ever mentioning a friend before.

Connor’s expression made her think that this was all new to him. It made her think that he was starting to freak himself out.

She really shouldn’t have brought the subject up, especially not when Joey and Jared were around.

“Do you really like him?” Joey asked softly.

Connor shrugged and nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Joey beamed. “I always thought you guys should be friends, but this is so much-”

“Don’t,” Connor muttered.

“Don’t what?”

“It was nothing,” Connor said quickly. “It didn’t mean anything.”

Zoe’s head popped up curiously. “Did he kiss you back?”

Connor scowled at her like he wished she’d come down with a sudden case of laryngitis. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Jared retorted. “How can you not-”

“Did it feel like he was kissing you back?” Joey asked eagerly.

“Oh my God...” Connor mumbled under his breath.

“If he kissed you back, then there’s hope.” Joey rocked back on his heels excitedly. “We can work with that.”

“We?” Connor yelped.

Jared’s brow furrowed as he looked at the twins. “Okay, this is funny and all, but you’re not serious, right?”

“Of course, we are,” Joey frowned.

Jared tugged at his hair. “Why? Do you hate Evan that much?”

“I don’t hate Evan. He’s my best friend!” Joey made a face when Jared raised his eyebrows at him. “I mean, yeah, I know I was mad at him before, but-”

“You want to set him up with...” Jared stopped speaking when he saw how the others were glaring at him. “Okay... On that note... Bye!”

Zoe nodded at her car as Jared sped out of there. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

 

Joey reached for the radio dial as soon as he climbed into the passenger seat. “Do you mind if I turn this off? I think I’ve had enough music for today.”

“For a lifetime,” Zoe cringed.

“Does that mean you’re done with the guitar?” Connor wondered. 

“For a day or two, maybe.” Zoe glanced at him in the mirror. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“It’d be weird if you stopped playing,” Connor shrugged.

Zoe swallowed her smile. That was probably the closest Connor would ever get to admitting he liked her songs.

“You’re getting pretty good at it.”

Or maybe not.

Zoe couldn’t help smiling as she pulled out of the parking lot. “So, what’re we going to do about Evan?”

“Again with the we,” Connor groaned. “There is no we. There isn’t even a me. I’m not... I’m not-”

Joey twisted around to look at him. “Why not?”

Connor lifted his hand to tick off the reasons. “He’s straight.”

“He’s bi. Next.”

“He’s bi?” Connor blinked. “Are you sure?”

“Hello? Best friend sitting right here. I think I know him a bit better than-” Joey’s face suddenly went from triumphant to eerily pale. “Shit. Did I just out Evan?”

His mouth opened and closed as he gawked at Zoe. “Did I...”

Zoe looked in the mirror again and fixed Connor with the sternest glare she could manage. “This conversation doesn’t leave the car.”

“That goes both ways,” Connor said. He nodded at Joey. “Don’t tell Evan anything I... or you – either of you... Just-just don’t repeat any of this.”

Joey pretended to lock his mouth and throw away the key. He squawked the word ‘next’ with his mouth closed.

Connor was silent for a minute. Zoe couldn’t tell if he was lost in thought or at a loss for what to say.

“He’s your best friend,” Connor finally whispered.

“So?”

“So, what if we break up? Won’t that make things-”

“See, I’ve never gotten why people do that,” Joey sighed. “Why are you already thinking about the bad part when you haven’t even experienced the good?”

“It wouldn’t matter to you if-”

“If you break my best friend’s heart or he breaks yours? Of course, it would! Which is why I’m going to be Switzerland if you two get together.”

“What?”

“I’m neutral. If there’s drama, leave me out of it or I’ll ask Aunt Jamie to curse you both.”

“Or do it yourself,” Zoe grinned. “I bet you could find a spell to make all their pencils float away.”

Joey glanced out the window thoughtfully. “Or follow them. I bet I could find a spell to make all their pencils stalk them and jab their ears.”

He wrinkled his nose at Connor. “Don’t even think about counting that as one of your reasons...” He grinned and leaned back in his seat. “Is there a next?”

Connor shook his head slowly. “Not really. I... I don’t know.”

He stared up at their house as Zoe pulled into the driveway. “I don’t know how to do these things.”

He said it so quietly that Zoe wasn’t sure if he realized he’d said it out loud. 

“No one’s born knowing how to do these things,” Zoe pointed out. “It’s not science. It’s not like there’s a step-by-step process you follow to get results.”

Joey clapped his hands together excitedly. “Your birthday’s coming up!”

“So?” Connor frowned.

“So, we should have a party. We can invite Evan and... other people. We’ll have to invite other people too. Otherwise it’ll be obvious what we’re doing and-”

Connor jumped out of the car before Zoe could put it in park.

“You know,” Joey breathed. He stretched his arms over his head serenely. “This actually turned out to be a good day after all.”

“Yeah... It actually was,” Zoe agreed. 

“Maybe I should...” Joey’s mouth snapped shut when he noticed that Zoe was shaking her head at him.

“No more summoning spells,” Zoe cautioned.

“But-”

“No more big magic unless you run it by someone who knows what they’re doing.”

Zoe shook her head again. “And Jared Kleinman does not count.”


	18. Chapter 18

Maggie was a mess. 

Evan had known that for a while. It wasn’t one of those things he’d come to realize when he’d grown up enough to see that the adults in his life were human. It wasn’t like the time he ran into his math teacher at the grocery store and saw that her cart was filled with cat food and frozen dinners. 

It wasn’t like that at all.

Maggie liked to remind everyone she’d been popular during her pre-Slayer days. She’d been the lead singer of a locally famous band and had had tons of friends and boyfriends and admirers.

She’d also been smart. According to Maggie, she would’ve been valedictorian if she hadn’t spent her last few months of high school battling demons. She was quick to tell people that she would’ve gone to college and become a doctor or a lawyer or a powerful tycoon if her life had remained her own. 

Evan wasn’t sure if he believed that. He thought his mother was probably right when she said that Maggie was smart but not that smart. 

Maggie blamed her current vagabond existence on the fact that she was a Slayer. Evan knew there was probably some truth to that. He knew his mother was one of the few adult Slayers who had a stable career and home. He knew there was a good chance Maggie would be drowning in debt if she didn’t work the occasional job for Hansen Investigations. 

He wasn’t sure what she did when she wasn’t working for his mother. He knew she didn’t have a full-time job. He knew she picked up odd jobs here and there. He knew that she changed apartments every few months.

He knew that was the norm for a lot of Slayers her age. He knew that Slayers weren’t a protected class. Employers could choose not to hire someone simply because they didn’t want a Slayer in their office. He knew there were a lot of Slayers who had lost their jobs and homes when the law requiring them to be registered was passed.

He didn’t understand why people didn’t want Slayers around though, especially in Stormyvale. Why wouldn’t you want to have someone in your office or your neighborhood who was trained to handle vampire attacks? 

The problem was that most people didn’t see it that way. They thought that death and destruction followed the Slayers wherever they went. And, yeah, okay, there was some truth to that.

The benefits of having a neighborhood Slayer greatly outweighed the risks though. As far as Evan could tell, they did at least. He supposed there was a chance he might be biased though.

 

Evan reached for the door handle as soon as they pulled up in front of his house. “I’ll just be a minute.”

He raised his eyebrows at Maggie when she got out too. He knew what this was. She didn’t trust him to come back out on his own. 

Which was ridiculous. Just because he had tried barricading himself in the house once when he was fourteen did not mean he was going to try it again. He’d learned that lesson. He knew Maggie would kick the door down if she felt she had no other choice.

“I thought I’d stay here actually,” Maggie said sheepishly.

Evan looked from her to the car and back again. He should’ve noticed the clothes right away. He should’ve known what they meant. He would have, except it wasn’t unusual for the inside of Maggie’s car to be covered with clothes and trash and decaying herbs.

“That’ll be better for you, won’t it?” Maggie continued in a tone that made it sound like she was doing him a favor. 

Evan nodded slowly. It was definitely better this way. He never made it to school on time when he stayed at Maggie’s. It was impossible to make her get out of bed and take him. And she moved around so much that it always took him a while to figure out which bus he needed to catch to get there. 

And then there was the fact that he never knew what he was going to walk into when he went to Maggie’s place. That was the real reason he’d convinced his mother that he was capable of staying home alone when he turned sixteen.

Maggie was a slob. She’d switched over to paper plates years ago because she could never be bothered with doing the dishes.

And she brought her work home with her. Her Slayer work, that was. There had been one particularly traumatizing incident when Evan was ten where he came in and found a mummified cat disintegrating on Maggie’s dining room table.

And then there was her taste in men. She had the worst taste in men. Literally. The _worst_ taste.

And they didn’t leave. They liked to stick around the next day. Maggie was somehow always surprised by that when she returned home with Evan in tow and found one of them lounging on her couch in his underwear.

And those were the human men. Maggie had once made the mistake of dating a vampire who claimed to have a soul. That had backfired on so many levels that it really should’ve turned her off demons for life. 

Evan didn’t think it had though. He’d overheard enough drunken conversations between his mother and Maggie to know that she’d still totally bang a vampire if she met one that treated her nicely.

Evan shook his head as he unlocked the door. He didn’t want to think about that. He hated thinking about things like that. 

He hated that Maggie was proof that it was possible to be an adult in every way and still be a total train wreck. 

He paused at the bottom of the stairs and eyed the duffle on Maggie’s shoulder. “Did you get evicted today?”

Maggie clapped him on the shoulder on her way to the stairs. “Look at you! Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective.”

Evan sighed to himself. He should’ve known right away. The car filled with clothes, the unwashed hair, the “concern” that he would get himself hurt before his mother returned.

“But you told my mom-”

“Your mom has enough going on right now without worrying about me. I’ll tell her when she gets back.”

“How long are you staying this time?”

Maggie narrowed her eyes. “Watch your tone.”

Evan raised his eyebrows. “ _My_ tone?”

Maggie raised hers in return. “Just for that, I’m going to go use all the hot water before you can get in.”

“I shower in the morning!” Evan called after her. 

He leaned against the railing when he heard the bathroom door slam shut. He wrinkled his nose at the pile of bags she’d dropped by the door. 

He tried to look on the bright side. At least, he didn’t feel like singing anymore.

 

“They’re talking about bringing the glee club back.”

Evan shut his locker and blinked at Jared. “What?”

“They’re talking about-”

“I heard you,” Evan mumbled. “You’re, uh... You’re talking to me again then?”

Jared shrugged and leaned against the locker next to him. “Well, you did save my life.”

That was an exaggeration, but Evan wasn’t about to point that out. “So, what’s this about the glee club?”

“They’re talking about bringing it back. That and the acapella choir and the hip hop society and... Did you know we used to have a hip hop society?”

Evan shook his head.

“People want to keep singing,” Jared beamed. He smugly pretended to brush a piece of lint off his shoulder. “Genius, party of one here. You all can thank me by-”

“Party of two,” Joey corrected as he bounced over to them. Almost literally. There was a definite spring in his step that morning.

His face lit up when he looked at Evan. “So... How are you this morning?”

Evan let out an awkward chuckled and scratched his neck. “Okay...”

He didn’t like the way Joey was staring at him. It was like Joey could barely contain his excitement. 

That wasn’t an entirely unusual thing to see, but Evan wasn’t used to being at the center of it.

“What’s-” Evan started. He jumped when Joey suddenly grabbed his wrist. “Ow, okay, that’s my arm.”

“There’s Connor!” Joey hissed.

Evan’s face scrunched up as he looked at Joey. “Yeah... Do you mind loosening your grip? My fingers are going numb.”

Joey jumped back automatically. “Are you two going to walk to homeroom together? You sit together there, don’t you? So, it only makes sense for you to... What?”

Jared snorted at Joey. “Really? You’re actually doing this?”

“Doing what?” Joey asked innocently. “I was merely suggesting that-”

Jared grabbed Evan’s arm and started yanking him away from Joey.

“What’re you doing?” Evan hissed.

“Returning the favor,” Jared hissed back. “I’m saving your life.”

“My-”

“Keep walking. Don’t stop.”

“Don’t-”

He nearly walked into Jared when he came to a sudden stop in front of Connor’s locker.

Because Connor was eyeing them. Warily eyeing them.

And Joey. His eyes flickered towards Joey and he shook his head like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Jared cursed under his breath and let go of Evan’s arm. 

He cursed out loud when the warning bell rang.

And then he was gone, swallowed up by the mob of students rushing to make it to their homerooms on time.

Evan turned around to...

Not ask. He wasn’t planning to ask Connor if he wanted to walk to homeroom together. He wasn’t even thinking about doing that. Not seriously anyway. Even he knew better than to do that.

He was just going to do it. He was just going to stand there while Connor finished putting his things away and then he was going to fall into step with him and...

That would’ve worked. That wouldn’t have been weird. That would’ve been totally, completely fine. 

Except for one thing.

Connor was already gone.

 

He didn’t get a chance to talk to Connor during homeroom. He didn’t get a chance to talk to him during English either. 

He didn’t even get a chance to talk to him during lunch because Connor never showed up. 

Evan tried not to worry about that.

He put his headphones on and ate his lunch in silence. 

It was like old times. How many times had he eaten in the library by himself? Way too many to keep track of.

It was peaceful, almost comforting in a way.

And it wasn’t like he knew what he would’ve said to Connor if he had turned up. 

So, really, it was for the best. 

It was really, definitely for the best.

 

Joey was waiting for him by his locker after the last bell rang.

Which was also like old times, except was it really? 

It was only in the sense that part of his brain still wanted to think it was. 

Evan shoved that thought aside. It was a good thing he was becoming an expert at burying things he didn’t feel like dealing with.

That thought made him look at his arm and cringe and want to run off in the opposite direction. He didn’t think he could stomach Joey’s cheeriness just then. 

He didn’t run away though. He went to his locker and opened it and nodded along as Joey prattled on about his birthday.

Make that his birthday party. Make that the birthday party his parents were having for all three of their children.

“It just makes sense, you know,” Joey grinned. “Connor’s birthday is next week and Zoe and I will be seventeen next month, so...”

“Yeah,” Evan nodded stiffly.

“So, you’re coming, right? Because it’d be weird if you didn’t, seeing as how you’re my best friend and all.”

“Maybe? I’ll have to, uh-”

“Check your schedule?” Joey rolled his eyes. 

The action made Evan blink in surprise.

“Sorry,” Joey said sheepishly. “It’s just you-”

“Never have plans?”

Joey shrugged. “Hardly ever have plans.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I know it’s not your thing, but-”

“You’re playing the best friend card?”

“I’m playing the best friend card.”

“I’ll check with my mom,” Evan relented. “As long as she doesn’t need me to work that night, I should-”

“I already texted her. She said she’d take you off the schedule when she gets back.”

Evan’s jaw set as he stared at Joey. “You went behind my back and texted my mom?”

“Desperate times...” Joey grinned. “I’m glad you’re coming. Connor will be glad too.”

Those words made Evan jump so quickly that he accidentally slammed his locker shut. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Joey smirked. He waved at someone down the hall.

Make that two someones. Zoe and Connor were standing by the door, waiting for Joey to join them. Evan lowered his gaze when he saw that. 

He lowered it, but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid noticing the way Connor was very obviously avoiding looking in his direction.

“You need a ride?” Joey offered.

Evan shook his head. “Maggie’s coming to get me... I think.”

Joey nodded knowingly. “We aren’t going far. Zoe wants to pick up some things from the craft store. She has a history project due tomorrow... which means that I have a history project due tomorrow. Crap. I wonder what it’s about.”

Joey cringed at the thought. “So, yeah, we’ll be in the area for a bit if Maggie doesn’t show.”

Evan nodded like he’d keep that in mind even though he had no intention of calling Joey for a ride. 

He’d take the bus if Maggie forgot to get him. Better to do that than get trapped in a car with the Murphys.

 

Maggie didn’t come get him. 

His mother did.

Evan did a double take when he saw her car pull up. He jumped off the stairs and ran across the sidewalk like he was afraid she’d speed off again if he didn’t get in fast enough.

“You’re back,” he greeted as he buckled his seatbelt.

“I’m back,” she confirmed. “Maggie’s staying with us for a few weeks. Is that okay with you?”

Evan nodded because he knew it wouldn’t make a difference if he said no.

And it didn’t matter to him. Not really anyway. Maggie tended to stay in the basement when she crashed at their place. She was like a vampire in that sense. She liked to hide from the light and emerge from the shadows late at night.

“So,” Heidi grinned. “What did you sing about yesterday?”

She flicked her turn signal on and wiggled her eyebrows. “Besides your breakfast. I heard that song when I called.”

“Nothing much,” Evan mumbled. “I, uh, I sang about trees in science.”

“Of course, you did,” Heidi sighed. “Please tell me you sang about something besides trees. The cafeteria food or the way your teacher spits when she talks or how much it sucks when your broken arm itches.”

Evan automatically grabbed at his cast when she said that last part.

She didn’t know. Evan knew there was no way she could know. She was just hoping that he’d sang about something other than his tree obsession.

Which wasn’t even an obsession. He didn’t think it was anyway. It an interest, a hobby, something he liked learning about.

“Not really,” Evan shrugged.

“I’m sorry I missed it. Maggie said the rest of the band got together to sing about their failed relationships. I definitely would’ve gotten a verse in that song.”

And there it was. It had been at least three weeks since he’d heard her say something negative about his dad. Something indirectly negative. She almost never came out and said exactly what she was thinking.

“Right,” Evan chuckled awkwardly.

He stared out the window for the rest of the drive. He watched the trees as they went by. Not because he was obsessed with them, because looking at them was better than looking straight ahead.

Because looking straight ahead would make it easy for his mother to see his expression, which would make him self-conscious, which would make it hard for him not to think about the things he didn’t want to think about.

He didn’t want to think about his arm. He didn’t want to think about the day he’d broken it. He didn’t want to think about the song he’d sang about that afternoon.

He’d rather think about that than the Murphys though. 

Which was really saying something.

“I got an interesting text from Joey this morning,” Heidi said brightly.

Evan forced himself to sit up straight and look at her. “About his party?”

“He wanted to make sure you’d be there. He said it’s really important to him.”

“He thinks I’m his best friend,” Evan shrugged.

“You are his best friend.”

“Because some monks programmed him to be my friend, not because he wants to be.”

And there it was. Again. 

Evan tried to push that thought aside, but he didn’t think he was going to be successful this time. In fact, he was pretty sure he was about to dwell on it for a while.

He pressed his forehead against the window as his mother pulled up in front of her office. He was vaguely aware of the fact that she was still talking.

That she was saying something about how this was a good opportunity for him.

A good opportunity? Who did she think she was kidding? 

This wasn’t an opportunity for him to make friends.

The monks had designed Joey to be an outsider, to stay out of the limelight. That was why they’d picked Evan to be his friend.

It wasn’t real. None of it was real.

Connor had only kissed him to avoid going to hell.

Literally. Because... how had the demon put it? 

Evan couldn’t remember the exact words that had been sung. He’d been a bit distracted at the time. He remembered the meaning though. He remembered that the demon had wanted to take Connor with him unless Connor had...

Not a boyfriend. Not a love. Not...

Evan couldn’t remember. The memory made him blush and feel very glad that his mother was too busy talking to notice his expression.

But, really, it wasn’t like Connor had had a choice. Who else was he going to kiss in that moment? Zoe? That would’ve been so wrong that Evan couldn’t even comprehend how wrong it would’ve been.

So, Connor had kissed him to avoid becoming a musical demon’s husband. It hadn’t meant anything.

Just like it didn’t really mean anything that they were friends now. Supposedly friends now. Evan was starting to wonder if Connor had given up on that idea.

He wouldn’t blame him if he had. A friendship that basically started because one person pitied the other, because the one being pitied was so pathetic that his only friend was monk-made, was not built to last.

Which kind of, really sucked because Evan had gotten used to having Connor around. He’d gotten used to talking to Connor, to sitting with him, to having someone who didn’t seem to mind when he sat with him and talked to him. 

He’d thought the feeling was mutual, but apparently not. Otherwise, why would Connor have gone out of his way to avoid him all day? 

And what was up with Joey’s... Teasing? Was that the right word? 

Evan didn’t know what to think of that either. He didn’t really want to think about it, especially since he was about to follow his mother into the lion’s den.

It always felt like he was going into a lion’s den when he walked into a room containing Maggie and Lena. And that had been before he had something that he really didn’t want them to pry out of him.

Maggie looked up and beckoned him over as soon as he walked through the door.

“The computer’s doing that-that thing again,” Maggie cringed. “Make it stop.”

Evan nodded and sighed and sat down to take a look. He absentmindedly clicked around while Lena filled his mother in on what she’d missed that day.

There was another missing teenager. A boy this time. 

Evan’s head shot up when he heard that. He didn’t know why. He’d only been half-listening, but something about Lena’s story was making him uneasy.

He caught his mother’s eye and knew she was on edge too.

He watched as she leaned forward and asked, “Exactly what did the boy’s parents say about a missing key?”


	19. Chapter 19

The twins were sitting on Connor’s bed when he emerged from the bathroom.

He did a double take and looked over his shoulder as he debated whether he should dart back in there. Zoe had the decency to look like she knew she shouldn’t have come into his room uninvited, but Joey looked like he wasn’t going anywhere, like there was absolutely nothing wrong with letting himself into Connor’s room while he was in the shower, like he was bursting to say something.

That was the part that really made Connor want to turn around and hide in the bathroom until the twins took the hint and left.

Of course, there was a very real chance that Joey would just climb out the window, scale the roof, and knock on the bathroom window if he did that. 

And Zoe would follow him because she was taking her job as Joey’s protector seriously. She would follow him across the roof and use her Slayer reflexes to keep him from breaking his neck.

Connor let his towel slip enough that Zoe grimaced and stared at her feet. Joey didn’t blink. He met Connor’s stare and held it.

“What’re you doing in here?” Connor demanded. He didn’t look away. He refused to give Joey the satisfaction of winning the staring contest.

Maybe this was one of the parts of Connor that the monks had put in Joey. The extremely random and sporadic need to win trivial fights.

Because that was a thing. Zoe had done her research (meaning she had talked to their aunt) and learned that the monks hadn’t just filled Joey’s head with his family’s memories. They hadn’t decided what he would look like by scanning pictures of his parents and using an app to come up with a Larry/Cynthia hybrid.

Joey was one of them. Genetically, that was. Genetically-speaking, he really was Zoe’s twin brother. His blood was their blood.

And his personality was...

Connor was still a bit confused about how that worked. He’d just assumed that Joey’s enthusiasm for life was a direct result of spending thousands of years as an actual ball of energy.

Zoe said that wasn’t entirely true though. The monks had told Jamie they had taken pieces of the four original Murphys and put them into Joey.

That explained Joey’s love of music, though the monks had also given him crippling stage fright so he wouldn’t draw attention to himself.

He had their mother’s compassion and their father’s sense of humor. He had Zoe’s tendency to act like everything was fine even when it wasn’t. 

And he had Connor’s talent for noticing things. Things that other people didn’t notice, things they didn’t think he noticed. 

Except, unlike Connor, who either kept those things to himself or let them explode out of him, Joey always tried to express his observations diplomatically.

And he always expressed them. As far as Connor could tell, there was very little that Joey kept to himself. 

Which was why Joey’s expression was making him so nervous. No good could come from whatever was going through Joey’s mind as he stared unblinkingly at Connor.

Connor opened his closet door without looking away and waved at the twins. “Do you mind?”

He tried not to look too smug when Joey finally lowered his gaze. He allowed himself to relish the victory for a moment though since he didn’t expect the feeling to last.

“We’re here to stage an intervention,” Joey finally said.

Connor pulled his hoodie down and fidgeted with the strings. “You’re what?”

“We’re not staging an intervention,” Zoe said quickly. She elbowed Joey and shook her head.

“Okay, not an intervention,” Joey corrected. His face lit up excitedly. “An Evan-vention.” He wrinkled his nose and tried again. “An Evan-tervention. An Evan-”

“You’re here about Evan?” Connor sighed.

He should’ve known that’s what this was. 

Joey had been hinting at this for days. He’d tried to work Evan into the conversation every chance he got. 

Almost every chance. He’d resisted the urge to try around their parents.

So, it could’ve been worse. A lot worse. 

“He said you’ve been avoiding him all week,” Joey said.

Connor’s stomach did a flip. Evan had said that? Meaning that Evan had talked to Joey about him? Meaning that...

No, he wasn’t going there. Not with the twins sitting on his bed and analyzing his every twitch, word, and move.

He didn’t need to look at them to know that was what they were doing.

He took his time smoothing out his shirt and checking his reflection. He breathed and counted and tried to clear his mind.

He wondered where Joey got this side of his personality from. Their mother liked to try to pry and Zoe took after her to some extent, but neither of them were what Connor would call persistent.

Maybe Joey was just new enough not to have let the world wear him down yet.

And by the world, Connor meant himself. 

Connor took a breath and spun around. “So?”

“Are you trying to play hard to get? Because you’re going about it the wrong way. You have to, you know, talk to him from time to time in order for that to work.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Connor shrugged.

“Exactly!” Joey waved his arms triumphantly like Connor had just had some kind of revelation.

“You like him,” Joey said in a tone that made it clear he was struggling to remain calm. “You said you like him.”

Connor didn’t react. He forced his face to stay blank as he leaned against his dresser.

He had said that. He really had. He didn’t know why. He wondered if admitting he liked Evan had been an aftereffect of the singing curse. 

At least he hadn’t sang it.

“It doesn’t matter,” Connor muttered.

“Of course, it does! It-”

“He likes Zoe,” Connor blurted out.

He cringed when he heard himself. 

Okay, so blurting out Evan’s secrets was another thing he shared with Joey.

“He does?” Zoe squeaked. Her eyes widened as she looked between her brothers.

“I mean, he did... before...” Connor injected as much meaning into the word ‘before’ as he could.

Zoe’s eyes widened even more.

“Before what?” Joey frowned.

“Before school started,” Connor said quickly. “He wrote about it in his therapy letter.”

“The one you stole?” Joey asked slowly. He inhaled sharply. “Is that why you got so mad? You’ve liked him all this time and he-”

“Joey,” Zoe muttered. She tugged on his arm and nodded at the door. “We should go, let him finish getting dressed.”

“He is dressed,” Joey pointed out. He rolled his eyes when Zoe didn’t change her tune. “Fine.”

Joey made it all the way to the door before he realized Zoe wasn’t with him. “You coming?”

Zoe shook her head slightly. “Go ahead. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Joey hesitated a moment before shutting the door behind himself.

Zoe chewed her lip and crossed the room to whack Connor’s door. The sound was so loud that Connor leaned forward to see if she’d cracked it.

She shook her head when there was a muffled cry on the other side.

“Go watch the game with Dad!” Zoe called. 

“But-” Joey protested.

Zoe lightly smacked the door again. She leaned against it and stared at the ceiling like she was counting. She took a breath before slowly opening the door. 

Connor sat on his bed and put on his socks while she crept down the hall.

Joey was going to go watch the game with their father? Willingly?

Joey really was his father’s dream son. He was perfect. The perfect son, perfect brother. He was polite and helpful. He told their mother about his day. He cared about sports. He never did anything wrong. He never made anyone mad. He never confused them or scared them or made them wish he were different.

And he was real. That was the hardest part.

It had been easier before Zoe had been involved. It had been easier when he hadn’t really stopped to think about Joey’s existence.

It had been easier when he hadn’t truly believed that Joey belonged with them.

He pushed that thought aside too.

Zoe nodded to herself when she returned. “Dad’s telling him the score.”

Connor tugged at his sock. Zoe was watching him when sat back up. “What?”

“Nothing,” Zoe muttered. She folded her hands in her lap and turned to look Connor in the eye. “So-”

“Are you going to give me relationship advice?”

Zoe squinted at him uncertainly. “Do you want relationship advice?”

Connor stared at his hands. Did he want his little sister to give him relationship advice? No. A huge, resounding no.

Did he need it? Probably. Definitely probably.

He wasn’t about to say that though. 

Zoe let out an awkward chuckle. “I never thought I’d be asking you that.”

She sighed in a way that made the hair hanging by her face puff up. “What was Evan like before... before Joey?”

Connor tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Zoe sighed again. “How much can you remember? I keep trying to figure it out, but it’s hard, you know. Intellectually, I know he’s not... That he hasn’t really been here all along. That the things I think I remember didn’t actually happen. That he wasn’t with us when we went to Disney World, even though I have a really vivid memory of the two of us throwing up when we got off the spinning teacup ride. That I must’ve messed up the volcano project in fourth grade by myself. That he didn’t hold my hand when I got stitches in my foot last year.”

Zoe’s mouth formed a thin line. “Was that you? Do you remember? Did you...”

Connor shrugged. “You were freaking out and Dad had to take a call...”

Zoe stared at her hands. “So, you do remember?”

“Pieces. Here and there. It’s not as clear as it was when I-”

“Was high on crazy monk weed?” Zoe laughed. “Yeah... Jamie told me about that.”

“I try not to think about it too much or I get a headache. It’s like my brain doesn’t want me to think about what it was like without Joey.”

“I know what you mean,” Zoe sighed. “Which is why I’m trying not to dwell on it. I have all these memories and it feels like he’s my brother and... I don’t know. I guess it’s better this way. Jamie said it’s not his fault. He has no idea that he’s...”

She frowned at the floor. “What was I saying before?”

Evan. She’d been asking about Evan. 

Connor wasn’t about to remind her about that.

Her eyes were bright when she lifted her head again. “Evan. What’s his story? Do you remember?”

Connor did remember. It was one of the few things that felt clear. Maybe because it was simple. Without Joey, Evan had been an awkward, pathetic, friendless loser. An outsider like him. 

Maybe it was because Evan himself had told him what he remembered or, rather, what he thought he remembered. What he knew was true. That without Joey, he’d been an awkward, pathetic, friendless loser.

“Was he my best friend?” Zoe asked quietly.

Her question made Connor jump. “What?”

“I’ve been thinking about it and Joey said Evan doesn’t talk to people unless he’s comfortable around them. That he-”

Connor sat up straight. “Does he talk to you?”

Zoe smiled knowingly. The look on her face sent a chill down Connor’s spine.

“He doesn’t talk to me unless he has to,” Zoe said. “It’s just... You said he likes me? Or liked me? I don’t... This whole thing is so confusing.”

Connor nodded stiffly.

“Did he know me before? Did he... Were we close?”

“Not as far as I know,” Connor shrugged. He gestured between them. “But then neither were we.”

Zoe made a face. “Right... So, some things really haven’t changed.”

Connor made a face right back. “I think he liked the idea of you. That’s what it sounded like in his letter.”

And it was true. He’d recited the letter to himself more times than he cared to count. He’d tried to guess what it meant then, what it meant now, whether it meant anything at all. 

He really needed to stop thinking about it because thinking about it wasn’t giving him any answers.

“He’s sweet,” Zoe smiled. She bumped her shoulder into Connor’s. “And cute. You have good taste. I approve.”

Connor wrinkled his nose again. “I-”

“Didn’t ask for my opinion,” Zoe smirked. “I know. Which is why it should mean even more.”

Zoe tilted her head thoughtfully. “What did the letter say post-Joey?”

Connor hesitated a moment before responding. “You weren’t in it, but he was.”

Zoe blanched at the thought. “He doesn’t have a thing for Joey now, does he?”

Connor shook his head. “If he does, he’s doing a really good job keeping that to himself. Or from himself, as the case may be.”

“So, you think you have a chance then? You-”

No more. Connor couldn’t handle talking about this subject any longer.

He covered his ears with his hands and hopped off his bed. He hummed loudly and off-key as he hurried across the room.

Zoe leapt over to him and pulled one hand down. “Really mature!”

“I’m going to go eat. I’m starving.”

Zoe's nose scrunched up as she eyed the plates under Connor’s bed. “Well, maybe if you hadn’t spent the entire weekend sleeping in this cesspool-”

“I haven’t spent the entire weekend-”

“It’s Sunday. Have you even left this room since Friday? Other than for the five minutes Mom managed to drag you out to eat cake?”

“It’s my birthday-”

“Your birthday’s been over for-”

“-weekend. It’s my birthday weekend. If I want to spend it in bed, then that’s my-” 

The door to Connor’s bedroom suddenly flew open and Joey ran back in.

“She’s ordering pizza!” Joey jumped up and down like they’d won the lottery. “Mom’s ordering an actual from-a-national-chain, full fat pizza! Can you believe it?”

His face fell as he blinked at Connor. “Don’t tell me this was your birthday wish?”

“What?” 

“Don’t tell me you wasted your birthday wish on pizza. It’s not worth it, man. It’s good, but it’s not worth wasting a wish on it.”

Connor shook his head. “I didn’t wish for a pizza.”

Zoe grinned mischievously. “So, you weren’t high when you blew out the candles last night?”

Connor looked her in the eye and held up both middle fingers. 

“Okay, good.” Joey breathed a sigh of relief. His relief turned to concern when he saw Connor’s hands.

“Did you even make a wish?” Zoe asked quickly. She was clearly trying to distract Joey, but Connor could tell there was a part of her that was genuinely curious.

So curious that Connor abruptly turned to face the window.

“Was it Evan-related?” Joey teased. He groaned when Zoe smacked his elbow. “Ow!”

“Leave him alone,” Zoe hissed. She caught Connor’s eye and smiled. “Operation Evan’s off.”

Joey’s face entire face fell. “What? No. We have buttons!”

Connor spun around to raise his eyebrows at the twins. “You have buttons?”

“One button,” Zoe corrected. “Joey made it. I told him it’s never to leave his room or make an appearance while Evan’s here.”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Joey gasped. “I can be really subtle. You’ll see if you let me-”

Zoe opened the door and nodded at her brothers. “So, pizza...”

Connor pretended to feel around his pockets. “You two go ahead. I’ll be down in a minute.”

He sat down on his bed as soon as Zoe closed the door behind them. 

His face felt strangely warm. He resisted the urge to touch it. 

His wish hadn’t been Evan-related. Partially because making a birthday wish about someone seemed like a really terrible idea when you lived in a world, in a town, where wishes could come true. Usually in some kind of morbidly twisted way.

But mostly he hadn’t wished about Evan because he still wasn’t sure what he wanted from Evan. He liked Evan and part of him liked the idea of being with him. And part of him thought that he just liked the idea of being with him. 

And part of him desperately wanted a do-over kiss because the one in the club had been a disaster. Because how was he supposed to know if that had been about more than simply keeping him on Earth? For either of them? 

But mostly for him because he was pretty sure Evan had been caught off-guard and gone along with it because he was smart enough and nice enough to realize that going along with it would help keep Connor from being taken to a hell dimension. 

He hadn’t wished for a do-over kiss though. He hadn’t wished for Evan to fall in love with him. He hadn’t wished that he could fall in love with Evan. 

He hadn’t wished for anything like that at all.

So, really, there was no reason for Connor’s face to be red. He hadn’t wished for anything embarrassing or selfish or bad.

He’d made the same wish he’d been making every year for as long as he could remember.

He’d wished that this would be the year he was happy.


	20. Chapter 20

Zoe threw down her pencil and leapt across the room with a grace that surprised her.

It was funny how that happened sometimes. She knew she should be used to it. She knew she should be used to the way her body moved. 

Or as used to it as someone her age could be at least. 

She wasn’t though. She really wasn’t. There were times when she landed on her feet or caught a stake or leapt across a room with a strength and speed that she’d forgotten she possessed.

She twirled towards the door and laughed at herself because it was that kind of a day. She managed to get into position just as Joey came scurrying past her room.

“Going somewhere?” Zoe grinned. She didn’t even try to hide her amusement.

Joey came to what was very nearly a skidding stop and spun around to face her. “Downstairs. I forgot my...”

His voice trailed off as he eyed the stairs.

“What’d you forget this time?” Zoe laughed. “You’ve already brought up your calculator, Connor’s calculator-”

“Mine’s being weird,” Joey muttered under his breath.

“Dad’s good pen – which I hope you didn’t lose.”

“It’s in my desk drawer!”

“Mom’s-”

“Are you spying on me?” Joey hissed. He looked around frantically like she was part of some great conspiracy to deprive him of all the random inanimate objects he was determined to collect.

“You’ve run past my room, like, twenty times in the last half hour.”

“I need a lot of stuff!”

“For your Algebra homework?”

Joey nudged her shoulder until she threw her arms up in surrender and slipped back into her room. He followed her in and immediately closed the door.

“They’re down there studying,” Joey whispered.

“I know,” Zoe nodded. She chewed her lip to keep from laughing. “You could always join them, you know.”

“I don’t want to interrupt.”

“You don’t think your prancing into the room every two minutes to grab something is interrupting?”

“I don’t prance!” Joey sighed and folded his arms across his chest. “They’re studying for their science test. I’m not in their science class. Therefore, I would be interrupting if I-”

Zoe turned on her heel and grabbed the books off her desk. “Come on.”

“What?”

“We’re going down there to do our math homework.”

“What?”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “You’re never going to finish it if you stay up here. Maybe if you’re in the same room as them, you’ll actually be able to focus long enough to finish the worksheet.”

Joey grabbed her arm. “Jared came with him.”

“With Evan?”

“No, with Dad.” It was Joey’s turn to roll his eyes. “Evan brought him or he brought Evan, actually, since Evan doesn’t have a car.”

“Okay,” Zoe drawled. 

“What do you think that means?”

“That Jared’s in the same science class as Connor and Evan and they’re all down there studying?”

“Do you think Evan brought him because he doesn’t want to be alone with Connor?”

“Why-”

“Do you think it means that Evan likes Connor and is worried he’ll make a fool of himself in front of him?”

“Um-”

“Or do you think it means he’s decided he doesn’t like Connor and thinks it’ll be less awkward if Jared-”

Zoe put a hand up to stop him. “I think you’re thinking about this too much.”

Joey frowned at the floor.

“Why does it matter to you anyway?” Zoe pressed. 

“Because...” Joey’s cheeks puffed out as he leaned back against her dresser. “Because Evan’s my best friend and Connor’s my brother.”

“I know,” Zoe said slowly.

“And... If something happens between them, where does that leave me?”

And suddenly it all made sense. 

Joey was freaking out. Zoe couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized that earlier. Somewhere beneath Joey’s cheerful façade, he was freaking out about the idea of something happening between his best friend and his brother.

“So, you think if you put yourself in the middle of this, if you help them get together, they’ll what? Be so grateful that they won’t leave you behind?”

Joey stared at her like he’d been slapped. “No...”

Which meant yes. 

Joey really couldn’t lie to save to his life.

“If something happens between them, it’s either going to be the best thing ever or the worst thing ever,” Joey said quickly. “It’ll either be amazing or terrible. There is no in between.”

“Or they’ll go out twice, text each other a couple times after that, and then move on with their lives.”

“So, they’ll follow the Zoe relationship path?”

Zoe resisted the urge to stick out her tongue. “Have you seen them today? I went downstairs to get some tea and... It’s not like they’re two seconds away from...”

She didn’t want to finish that sentence. 

Joey nodded. “Because Jared’s there.”

“Because they’re them and right now that’s all they are. I’m not saying that will never change. The fact that Connor actually admitted to liking him is kind of huge, but he’s obviously not planning to do anything about it anytime soon. And has Evan even said anything about all this to you?”

Joey shook his head. “But why would he?”

“Because you’re his best friend.”

“And the brother of the first guy he’s ever kissed.”

“The first guy or the first person?” Zoe shook her head when she realized what she’d asked. Joey was starting to pull her into his madness because of course he was. 

She blinked when Joey muttered the word ‘person.’ She just barely managed to keep herself from asking if he thought Connor had been in the same boat. Partially because discussing this was starting to make her feel skeevy. Mostly because she’d seen the kiss. She knew he had been.

Zoe put her hands up and sighed. “Okay. That’s enough of that.”

She tilted her head curiously. She wanted to drop this. She really did, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. “So, your whole Operation Evan plan... Did you actually want it to succeed or were you planning to sabotage it at some point?”

Joey looked so horrified that she felt a quick twinge of guilt.

“I wouldn’t sabotage them!” Joey squeaked. “I wanted it to work because I think they could be good for each other. I just...”

“Don’t want them to forget about you,” Zoe finished.

Joey shrugged. He stared at his feet for a moment before grinning at her excitedly. “Idea. Why don’t we go downstairs and do our French homework?”

“Okay, but we’ll still have to-”

“Finish the Algebra II worksheets later, I know.” Joey rocked back on his heels. “But if we do our French homework downstairs, then maybe Jared will join us because he’s in our class and that’ll let Evan and Connor study by themselves which will...”

Zoe could practically see the wheels turning in Joey’s mind as his voice trailed off.

She knew she should probably stop him. She should probably keep him upstairs and force him to finish his math homework. She should probably dig the old baby gate out of the attic and put it across the stairs. Joey never could figure out how to work that thing.

Of course, then he’d just go down the kitchen stairs and...

She sighed when she saw his expression. It was sad. He really had no chill. None. Not even a little bit. Especially when he got like this.

“Do you think you can behave yourself?” Zoe demanded.

“Behave myself? Out of the three of us, who was named an Outstanding Citizen four times in elementary school?”

“You were,” Zoe mumbled. 

She’d been chosen once and Connor had never been picked. She was pretty sure the incident with the printer when he was in second grade had ensured that none of his teachers would ever even think of nominating him.

And Joey, sweet-natured, well-behaved Joey, had made the list four times.

Except not really. 

Zoe wondered why the monks had felt the need to add that particular detail to his personal history.

Maybe because a kid who’d been picked to be an OC four times would be seen as a brown-noser. Maybe because it would make the adults in his life want to protect him. Maybe because Joey had been a really well-behaved ball of energy.

Zoe pushed that thought aside and started for the door. “Okay. So, how about this? We’ll finish our Algebra homework first and then we’ll work on the French conjugations if there’s time.”

Joey didn’t need to be told twice. He flew back out the door and down the stairs with a speed that Zoe hadn’t known he possessed. 

She shook her head when she realized he hadn’t taken any of his books with him. She gathered up her things and set off to collect his before following him down.

 

Evan looked paler every time Zoe glanced at him.

It wasn’t that she was glancing at him a lot. It was just something she noticed each time she looked up from her notebook.

Which really wasn’t that often.

It wasn’t fair. She was the only one in the room who was still doing homework. The boys weren’t even pretending to study anymore.

She would’ve made a comment about how they were all going to fail, but it definitely sounded like Evan knew his stuff. Zoe thought it was safe to say that he was going to ace the science test. 

And Connor had studied more for this test than... Zoe couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually seen Connor study for a test. She knew he must study sometimes. He wasn’t some kind of weird genius who never needed to crack a book and yet he somehow managed to pass all his classes. Therefore, the logical conclusion was that he studied. Sometimes. Probably when no one was looking.

Zoe wasn’t sure if Jared was prepared for the test. Judging from the random questions he kept asking Evan, she was willing to bet that he was not. He didn’t seem to care though, so she decided not to make it her business to worry about his GPA.

Joey hadn’t even glanced at his books once since Zoe had literally dropped them in his lap. They were still there though. She thought about nudging him with her foot and raising her eyebrows at him until he remembered that he was supposed to be studying, but she knew there was no point in doing that. Joey operated on his own schedule. He studied when he felt like studying. He was one of those lucky students who could wait until the last possible second and turn in an assignment his teacher thought he’d been working on for weeks.

Zoe didn’t have that kind of luck. She had to focus and put in the effort and make sure everything was handed in on time. She had to make sure her grades didn’t slip, make sure no one had a reason to use her as “proof” that Slayers were all brawn and no brains.

She dropped her pencil and rolled her neck from side to side. Her math homework was done. Time to move on to French. 

She thought about asking Joey and Jared if they wanted to go over the assignment with her, but neither of them looked like they were even the slightest bit interested in schoolwork at that moment.

Joey’s eyes were glued to the screen. He looked positively giddy as he watched the masked killer decapitate the screaming cheerleader.

Jared also looked giddy, but he wasn’t staring at the tv. He was doubled over with laughter as he watched Evan’s face grow even whiter.

Zoe frowned as she looked between the two of them. She felt like sighing when her eyes landed on Connor.

It seemed that Joey was the only one in the room who hadn’t noticed that the movie was freaking Evan out.

Connor clearly had no idea what to do about the fact that Evan was silently hyperventilating next to him. He kept tilting his head and opening his mouth and looking away like he’d seen something shameful. 

At least Evan didn’t notice. He didn’t notice that Connor wanted to help, but had no idea how. He didn’t notice that Jared looked like he was going to have an accident if he kept laughing that hard. He didn’t notice that Joey was totally and completely engrossed by the movie.

Zoe stood up and slid onto the couch next to Evan. She carefully put a hand on his shoulder and asked if he was okay.

Which was not a good idea. 

It didn’t take her long to realize that.

Evan jumped off the couch and almost tripped over his feet as he ran from the room.

Zoe squeezed her eyes shut and leaned back into the cushions. She didn’t open them until she heard Jared yelp.

She rubbed her forehead when she saw that Connor was standing over him.

“I thought you said he wanted to watch this,” Connor huffed.

Jared waved his hands and smirked around the room. “Wanted to, was too embarrassed to refuse... Same difference, right?”

Joey’s back suddenly went rigid as he twisted himself around. “Wait... Evan hates horror movies.”

Joey groaned as he pulled himself off the floor. “I wasn’t thinking...”

“Why would you-” Connor began.

“Hey, he started it!” Jared said defensively. “He denied his Jewish heritage and laughed when you made that crack about _Gilmore Girls_.”

“So, naturally, you decided you had to pick something you knew he would hate.”

“Naturally,” Jared nodded like he was glad they’d reached an understanding.

Connor shook his head and turned to face the direction Evan had gone.

“Should someone go check on him?” Zoe suggested. She nodded at the tv. “And we’re turning that off and putting on something light.”

“Like _The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel_!” Jared beamed. “See, if you all had listened to me in the first place, none of this would’ve happened. If Evan hadn’t said he isn’t Jewish-”

“He said he’s half-Jewish,” Connor reminded him.

“Eh,” Jared shrugged. “If he hadn’t-”

“I’ll go,” Connor decided. 

Zoe turned to grin at Joey as soon as Connor ducked out of the room. Her grin faded when she saw that Joey wasn’t smiling.

He wasn’t frowning either. He was staring blankly at the wall like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

“What were you saying before?” Joey asked.

Jared squinted at him uncertainly. “Before what?”

“Before, when we were trying to decide what to watch. You told Evan that he should vote for your show because it wasn’t like you’d picked a... a what?”

“A kissing movie?”

“A kissing movie?” Zoe laughed. “Do those exist?”

“Uh... _Never Been Kissed_? _French Kiss_? _Kiss Me Kate_? The masterpiece known as _The Kissing Booth_?”

Joey breathed in quickly. “And then you laughed at him like...”

“Like he sucks at feelings?” Jared nodded knowingly. “Because he does. He really, truly does.”

Zoe twisted her hair around her finger as she tried to catch Joey’s eye. He was letting this get to him. He was letting the idea that Evan had confided in Jared get to him.

She needed to change the subject before he tried to confirm his suspicions.

“Did he tell you about what happened with Connor?”

Too late. 

Jared’s face scrunched up as he considered his words. “Sort of? He started yammering on about it when I went to his house a couple days ago.”

“You went to his house?”

Jared scoffed at Joey’s tone. “Okay... What is it with you Murphy boys and-”

“He’s my best friend,” Joey whispered. “He’s my best friend! He’s not your best friend!”

“I didn’t say he was! Trust me, if he came with an off switch, I would’ve hit it the second he started going on about Connor.”

Joey’s mouth snapped shut as he took in that bit of information. Zoe could tell he was torn between wanting to know exactly what Evan had said and feeling hurt that his best friend seemed to be pushing him away.

There was only one thing she could think of that would make Joey feel better.

Operation Evan, Joey’s almost definitely disastrous plan to help Connor and Evan sort things out.

Zoe knew she should know better. She knew she should be the practical twin. She knew she should try to keep Joey in line. She knew there was a part of her that really wanted nothing to do with this. She knew there was a part of her that knew this wasn’t going to end well.

She also knew that it was something that might work out. That it might end up making both of her brothers happy. That it was something that might allow her to help people in a non-Slaying capacity. That, at the very least, it would be more interesting than her French conjugations. 

“So, we should do something about this then, yeah?” Zoe said brightly. “Joey keeps saying we should help those two-”

“Oh, no!” Jared shook his head firmly. “No, no, no, no! A world of no. A universe of no. A freaking galaxy of no.”

“Isn’t a universe bigger than-” Zoe started. She shook her head when she decided it didn’t matter. “We should-”

“You know, they’re probably sitting in the other room, shoving their tongues down each other’s throats right as we speak, right?” Jared wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Zoe shook her head as she gestured at the hallway. Connor and Evan had just emerged from the kitchen and, judging from the awkward twitches they were both exhibiting - not to mention the physical distance between them, she thought it was safe to say Jared was wrong.

Joey’s face lit up when he saw them. He turned to grin at Zoe. “So, Operation Evan?”

Zoe only hesitated a moment before saying, “Is on.”


	21. Chapter 21

“I don’t get why you’re not watching it.”

Evan blinked as he pulled himself away from the window. “Watching what?”

He shook his head when he realized that Jared was still talking about that show. He’d zoned out for the entire car ride and Jared was still talking about it. His face scrunched up as he looked Jared up and down. “What is she, uh, is she naked in it or something?”

Jared scoffed at the suggestion. “It’s by the people who made _Gilmore Girls_!”

“You say that like it should mean something to me.”

“It should!” Jared groaned. “You’re telling me your mom has never made you watch _Gilmore Girls_?”

“Your mom makes you watch _Gilmore Girls_?”

Jared breathed in sharply through his nose. He gave Evan a look that clearly said he wasn’t going to dignify that with a response. “And it’s part of our heritage. _The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel_. It’s a Jewish show.”

Evan nodded slowly. Experience had taught him that it was best to humor Jared when he got like this. “Okay... Maybe I’ll check it out.”

“You better. There’ll be a quiz tomorrow.”

Evan shook his head again. It had been years since he’d been subjected to one of Jared’s obsessive rambles. He would’ve said he’d missed them, but that would’ve been a lie.

“You should be glad I’m talking about _The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel_ and not...”

Evan tilted his head. “And not what?”

Jared smirked at the windshield. “Talk to Joey.”

“What?”

“Do yourself a favor and talk to Joey.”

This wasn’t good. None of it. Jared’s tone, his expression, the grin that was slowly spreading across his face...

Evan slumped down in his seat. “About what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Global warming, world peace, his lunatic of a brother.”

Evan bolted up at that. “Connor?”

“No. His other brother. The invisible one.”

Evan did a double take. It took him a moment to decide that Jared was kidding, that there wasn’t really an invisible Murphy brother running around somewhere.

“Did he-”

“No, no, no,” Jared huffed. “Why do you people keep trying to drag me into this?”

“Into what?”

Jared continued on like Evan hadn’t spoken. “Just do yourself a favor. Talk to Joey. Tell him what you told me.”

Jared glanced at him shrewdly. “And that’s all I have to say about that, capisce?” 

Evan nodded rapidly. “Capisce.”

Jared burst out laughing as soon as he pulled up in front of Evan’s house. Evan glanced at him in alarm. He tried to ask what Jared was laughing at, but that only made Jared laugh harder.

Which made Evan decide that he really didn’t want to know.

 

Jared made it sound so easy.

Talk to Joey. Just talk to Joey. 

Like talking to Joey was as easy as breathing.

Which it probably should be. There was a part of Evan that felt like he could tell Joey anything.

Deep down, he knew that was probably true. The monks had made Joey that way. They’d made sure he was a good listener. They’d made sure he was trustworthy and easy to talk to and...

This was Evan’s problem, not Joey’s. 

It wasn’t just the fact that Joey had only been a human for a short time. It wasn’t that his brain kept reminding him that the memories he had of Joey had been planted in him. No matter how vivid they seemed to be, they weren’t real. 

Evan was sure the knowledge of what Joey really was didn’t help, but he knew he couldn’t blame it for his reluctance to talk to Joey about Connor... or anything, really.

He knew this was one of the things Dr. Sherman wanted him to work on. 

Talking to people, interacting with them, not shutting them out. Not letting himself fade into the background. Not hiding from people and things that scared him.

Not that Joey scared him. 

He was pretty sure that Joey might actually be the least scary person on the planet. 

It wasn’t fair.

Why couldn’t it have been Jared?

How much better would that have been? 

Jared had been in Evan’s life for as long as he could remember, but he stuck to the periphery. He was always popping in and out of the picture, never staying in long enough to get to know Evan. The real Evan. 

It would’ve been easier for Evan if Jared had been the Key. It would’ve been easier because nothing would’ve changed. Not really anyway.

He wouldn’t have found himself holding things back when he talked to Jared because he already did that. He wouldn’t have weirded himself out every time they did something because he already felt like he was walking on a burning tightrope without a safety net whenever they hung out.

And he definitely wouldn’t have started developing messy, complicated, hard to define feelings for Jared’s brother because Henry was...

No. Just no.

It would take more than a clan of magical monks to make him fall for Henry Kleinman. He couldn’t imagine what it would take. He was kind of scared to think about it in case thinking about it tempted the Hellmouth to try.

But, even if he had, that would’ve been different too. It would’ve been different because Jared would’ve figured it out right away and confronted him about it.

In a sarcastic, off-putting way that would’ve made Evan want nothing to do with him ever again.

But Jared would’ve done it. He would’ve laughed mercilessly about how he couldn’t believe Evan liked his brother. He would’ve made threats and given advice and said so many things that Evan would’ve walked away from the conversation feeling totally confused about where Jared stood on the issue.

Was he for or against the idea of Evan dating his brother? It would’ve been a mystery that Evan would never have solved.

It would be a mystery if he talked to Joey about it too. Evan knew that for a fact. He knew that Joey would be bubbly and excited to the point of being giddy, but he also knew there would be a good chance that would be an act.

That was one of the things he instinctively knew about Joey. He knew that Joey was extroverted and outgoing, but he also had a tendency to keep any feelings that could be construed as negative to himself. 

Especially if he thought his feelings would affect other people. Especially if he thought that what he was feeling was wrong.

Evan knew he should probably say something to Joey about Connor. 

Something being the key word there. A very vague something. Nothing that would make him want to curl up in a ball and die if Joey repeated it.

Because that was another thing he knew about Joey.

Joey was trustworthy but only to a point. If Joey slipped into excited puppy mode, then all bets were off when it came to secret keeping. 

But still, Evan knew he should probably say something. The fact that Jared, of all people, had flat out told him to talk to Joey...

That wasn’t good. That meant that Joey suspected, or maybe even knew, something was up and it was driving him crazy.

The problem was that it was so much easier not to say anything, especially when the subject was one that Evan knew Joey would be interested in discussing at length. 

Especially when Evan wasn’t entirely sure where he stood on the issue.

Did he like Connor? Yes. As more than a friend? Maybe. Had he liked kissing him? Maybe. It had kind of been a blur, what with the rising music and the singing demon and... Next time, if there was a next time, he would like to have a moment to prepare himself before the kissing started.

Did he want there to be a next time? 

Well, if he knew the answer to that, then the subject wouldn’t make his head spin now, would it?

Did he want to do anything about any of this or talk to anyone about it?

No. A huge, resounding no. 

He hadn’t even wanted to talk to Jared about it. That had just happened somehow. He wasn’t entirely sure how, but then he never knew what caused these things to explode out of him. If he did, it would be a lot easier to avoid embarrassing himself.

It would make him feel like it wasn’t necessary to avoid Joey until this whole thing blew over.

 

It really was surprisingly easy for him to avoid Joey. Evan wondered if the monks had done that on purpose.

They could’ve made Joey be Connor’s twin. They could’ve put him in Evan’s grade, in all of Evan’s classes. They could’ve made Evan believe that Joey had been his lifelong best friend, not a guy he’d only been friends with for about a year.

It was kind of fun to think about it that way. Evan knew he could’ve come up with a much better fake friendship than the monks had. 

His story would’ve been epic. It would’ve involved magic and trees and graveyard fights. It wouldn’t have been a simple case of a pair of misfits randomly meeting in the hallway at school and deciding to stick together because what choice did they have? Who else were they going to hang out with?

Connor.

That answer popped into Evan’s head every time his mind drifted down that path. 

Of course, he suspected it would never even have occurred to him to try talking to Connor in a world without Joey. 

He also suspected that Connor wouldn’t have willingly talked to him if it weren’t for Joey. He didn’t get the impression that Connor wanted to fit in, to feel like he belonged. He didn’t get the impression that Connor cared about having friends.

Connor had only started talking to him because he’d been trying to figure out what was going on with Joey. He’d only agreed to be Evan’s friend because he pitied him, because he had enough compassion to feel sorry for someone whose only friend was monk-made. 

He’d only kissed Evan because the alternative was to allow himself to be dragged to hell.

Literally.

So, there was that.

Kissing Evan, convincing a singing demon that he had feelings for him, was preferable to marrying said demon.

Evan was just glad he hadn’t gone into all that when he’d told Jared he might like Connor.

He had a feeling he would’ve spent the next few weeks listening to Jared list all the hell dimensions he’d go to in order to avoid kissing Evan if he had.

 

So, the good news was that Connor was speaking to him again.

And not just about science.

Weathering a horror movie-related panic attack had helped them slip back into their routine of making small talk (or, rather, something that resembled small talk and mainly consisted of sleepy grumbles) before homeroom started. 

It had apparently caused something to snap in Connor which allowed him to look at Evan again, to talk to him between classes, to sit with him at lunch.

The bad news was that Connor seemed to be operating on the same wavelength as Jared.

“You need to talk to Joey.”

Evan nearly choked on his sandwich as Connor slid into the seat across from him.

Déjà vu. This was the strongest case of déjà vu he’d ever experienced.

Evan chugged down half his juice and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “What? Why?”

Connor narrowed his eyes. “We’ve been through this. He-”

“Can’t handle it when he thinks people are mad at him,” Evan filled in reluctantly. 

“He thinks you’re dumping him for Jared Kleinman.”

Evan nodded slightly. “Yeah... I know.”

“You know? Are you-”

“I’ll talk to him. He asked me to come over after school, so I’ll...” Evan shrugged. He’d go over to the Murphys’ house and hang out in Joey’s room and play video games or watch tv or...

Not talk. Not talk about anything that would allow Joey to steer the conversation towards Connor.

He stared at his hands like staring at them would encrypt his thoughts and make it impossible for them to be read.

Because that was a thing. He knew it was his anxiety flaring up, but that didn’t stop him from feeling like he was living in _The Truman Show_. Like it was possible for his every thought and fear and action to be broadcast for everyone to see and know.

Connor frowned like he didn’t believe him. He ducked down to pull a sandwich out of his bag. “Okay. You can meet us at the car. I drove today.”

Evan was glad he hadn’t been chewing at that moment or he was sure he would’ve choked for real that time. 

He hadn’t planned on that part. He’d figured it would just be the two of them. Joey had said that Zoe had band practice and Connor...

He hadn’t said a word about Connor. Evan wondered what that meant. He wondered if it meant anything at all.

“Yeah, okay,” Evan muttered. His hands shook as he reached for his juice. He took a breath and forced himself to look Connor in the eye. “So, how do you think you did on the science test?”

 

Connor was already at the car when Evan got there. Evan stopped in the middle of the street and glanced over his shoulder.

He didn’t know why. It was just one of those random, nonsensical reactions that made him want to laugh.

He approached the car slowly and cleared his throat when he got there. The sound made Connor roll his shoulders as he continued to stare at his phone.

“Joey’s not coming,” Connor said. He shoved his phone back in his pocket. “He says he got on the bus because he forgot I drove today.”

“He forgot?” Evan asked incredulously. 

Connor raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “So he says.”

Evan nodded stiffly. Joey didn’t forget things like this. 

“Do you think he’s avoiding me now?” 

The very thought of Joey being mad at him made Evan’s heart skip a beat. 

Connor looked at him strangely. “No. I think he’s...”

Evan’s head snapped up when Connor stopped speaking. “He’s what?”

Connor shook his head and unlocked the car. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

 

Joey came bursting into the kitchen ten minutes after they arrived at the Murphys’ house. His face was flushed with excitement. Evan swallowed dryly when he saw that. 

He took a sip of his soda and stared at Joey while he waited for him to tell them whatever news he was dying to share.

Joey didn’t say a word. He simply rocked back on his heels and rubbed his hands together as he gazed at Connor and Evan.

“So...” Joey finally said.

“So what?” Evan asked.

“Did you guys, uh... how was the drive?”

Connor folded his arms across his chest. “How was the five-minute drive to our house?”

“You made it in five minutes?” Joey blinked. “What did you, like, run all the red lights?”

Joey took a breath and slowly made his way across the room to the refrigerator. “I mean...”

Joey’s mouth snapped shut when he saw the way Connor was narrowing his eyes at him. “Homework. I’m going to go do my homework.”

He reluctantly turned to face Evan. “You coming?”

He continued on before Evan had a chance to respond. “Or are you guys going to study together? Which is fine, by the way, because I know you have classes together and-”

Connor abruptly slid off his stool. “I’ll be in my room.”

Joey looked like a puppy who had just been scolded. His shoulders slumped and he looked so sad that Evan tried to think of something that would cheer him up.

“You know,” Evan said slowly. “Connor’s actually a good driver.”

Joey perked up at that. “Really? You think he’s a good driver?”

“I mean, he’s better than Zoe makes him out to be. I didn’t fear for my life once during the ride here.”

“Maybe he was just on his best behavior because he thought he had precious cargo onboard,” Joey said with a wink.

He winked. Joey actually winked.

Evan let out a small chuckle and scratched at his neck. “Uh, no, I don’t think...”

“Homework,” Joey said decisively. “Homework and then _The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel_.”

“Jared got to you too?” Evan groaned.

“He said he’s giving us all a written test next week!”

Evan didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to explain that Jared’s written tests were a joke except for the times when they weren’t. He didn’t want to comment on how weird it was that Joey had made it onto Jared’s list of people to annoy. And he definitely didn’t want Joey to elaborate on what he was hinting at with his “precious cargo” remark.

He squared his shoulders and reached for his backpack. “You want to study in here or upstairs?”

“In Connor’s room?” Joey grinned.

Evan dropped his bag and reached for his Calculus notes. The counter it was then.

 

Evan blinked when he closed his locker. He blinked and looked around like he was playing hide and seek. He blinked as he spun around to face Connor again. “Where did Joey go?”

Connor shook his head dazedly. “To his homeroom?”

“But he didn’t...” Evan’s voice trailed off when he realized how needy that made him sound. He was upset that Joey had slipped away without saying goodbye, without even acknowledging the fact that he was leaving? 

“He’s good at that,” Connor whispered. “Did you ever notice? He’s good at disappearing. Do you think that’s a Key thing?”

“I don’t know,” Evan muttered. “I could ask someone, maybe...”

“It’s probably a Joey thing,” Connor decided.

“Probably,” Evan quickly agreed.

 

Joey wasn’t the only one who had a talent for disappearing. Evan started to notice that more and more as the days went by.

At first, he thought it might a twin thing because it was clearly a talent that Zoe shared with Joey.

But then Jared started doing it too. 

At least Jared warned them before he slipped away. Subtle was not a word that could be used to describe Jared Kleinman.

Evan kind of appreciated that this time though. He appreciated it because it confirmed what he was starting to suspect.

People were conspiring to put him in situations where he was left alone with Connor.

Which was...

Evan didn’t know what it was. He didn’t know what to do about it either. He didn’t want to do anything about it. 

He didn’t want to say anything because acknowledging it would lead to conversations he didn’t want to have. It would force him to ask why they were doing this. It would force him to ask himself what he had done to make them decide this was a good idea.

Because obviously he’d done something. 

Because Connor obviously wasn’t thinking about these things or questioning them or noticing that other people were noticing that there was something for them to notice.

Evan didn’t need to bring any of that up to know that he was right. He didn’t need to say anything about it to anyone.

Because, really, what would he say? 

What was he supposed to do? Confront Joey and tell him he knew what they were trying to do? Ask them to stop meddling? Tell them they were really bad at it?

Tell them there was no point? Not unless their goal was simply to get him to talk to Connor.

Because he was doing that a lot. A lot a lot. 

Just not about anything that would make the team of conspirators feel like their mission had been accomplished.

 

Evan was glad he didn’t have time to obsess about the Murphy mess as much as his brain wanted him to. 

He wondered, not for the first time, how normal people dealt with these things. How did they know what to say? How did they know what to do? How did they get through the day without second-guessing their every move? 

He knew that wasn’t the norm. There would be a lot more people exploding – literally exploding – if it were.

He was glad he had other things to keep him busy or he was afraid he finally would’ve joined their ranks.

He had school and his college applications. He had his job, even if it felt like his mother hardly ever needed his help these days. 

He had to worry about Joey because Joey didn’t know he should be worried about himself. He had to worry every time Joey talked to a new person or went off on his own or made a comment about how maybe this would be the week he finally joined the Slaymate club. 

He had to worry about whether he was doing enough to keep Joey from falling into the wrong hands. He had to worry about the fact that he really wasn’t doing anything on that front at all.

He had the thing that he really didn’t want to think about. The thing that was all too easy to ignore once his cast finally came off. The thing that his gut kept telling him he needed to address.

And then, in the second week of October, the government gave him something else to think about. 

That was the week the Initiative came back to town.

 

Evan had grown up hearing stories about the Initiative. He knew all about it. He knew why his mother and the other Slayers hated it. He knew why his mother and Maggie stayed up late drinking and groaning at each other the night the news broke.

The Initiative was part of the government. It had been around for decades. It had started out as a top-secret special ops division that handled supernatural problems. It had been disbanded and reassembled a number of times since it was first formed.

It was a good idea in theory. Sort of. 

It wasn’t a bad idea to have a group of highly trained soldiers who knew how to protect the public from demons, especially in the days when there had only been one Slayer.

The problem was that the organization had a tendency to become corrupt. 

And when it became corrupt, it became really corrupt. It did things like raise the dead and brainwash civilians and create super soldiers who very quickly turned to the dark side of the force.

The official statement about the Initiative’s return to Stormyvale assured the public that all its previous problems had been resolved. 

It was coming back because it was becoming clear the Stormyvale needed help. The town had been divided into factions thanks to the demon that had convinced people to kill all the witches and Slayers. The singing demon had caused that discord to strengthen.

Evan hated to admit it, but there was a part of him that wondered if it was a good idea to bring in outside help. Maybe this was what the town needed. Maybe they needed something to save them from themselves. 

Or maybe, as his mother and Maggie decided at 3 AM, it was about time for everyone in town to have a common enemy.

 

The Initiative didn’t scare Evan. It didn’t even concern him that much. 

The more he thought about it, the less he worried about it.

He didn’t expect it to affect his life in a significant way. 

It wasn’t a secret organization anymore, but it still stayed on the down-low for the most part. It wasn’t nearly as intrusive as some of the other attempts the government had made at regulating the supernatural world. 

He expected he’d hear about it on a regular basis.

He expected Maggie to end up dating at least one of the soldiers. He expected the fallout from that to have reverberations that would last for weeks. 

He expected that his mother’s profession would cause her to be the Slayer who worked with/against the Initiative the most. He expected her to grumble every time an Initiative operative messed with one of her investigations.

He didn’t expect to find an Initiative operative standing in his mother’s office the first day they returned to town though. He didn’t expect to walk in on what was obviously a very tense conversation.

And he really didn’t expect it when the operative turned around and he realized he had been staring at the back of his father’s head.


	22. Chapter 22

The knocking started just as Connor was about to climb in bed.

It was a different kind of knock, not the kind that Connor was used to hearing.

He knew his family’s knocks. They each had their own kind. It was considerate of them, really. It ensured that he always knew who was on the other side of the door before he let them in.

His father always knocked twice. Firmly. Very firmly. He knocked twice, then waited a minute before knocking again. He left if there was no response.

His mother knocked softly. She knocked softly two to four times before calling for him through the door. She would open it slowly if he didn’t respond.

Zoe knocked quickly. Her knocks normally sounded like she was beating his door. She usually gave up if he didn’t answer unless she thought it was important. Then she’d shout that he’d better open up or she was coming in.

Joey knocked once before letting himself in. If he even bothered knocking. 

This knock was different. It was soft, but not as soft as his mother’s. Fast, but not as fast as Zoe’s. 

Connor wished his door had a peephole. 

He also wished that Joey hadn’t invited his best friend to stay over after all the other guests had left.

Because who else could be at Connor’s door? No one. Not unless one of his father’s co-workers had gotten wasted to a point where they were just now waking up and trying to find their way out of the house.

Because it had been that kind of a party. The birthday party that his parents had oh so graciously decided to throw for their children had once again morphed into a dinner party for their friends.

It was better that way though. Connor thought it was better because the alternative was worse. The alternative would’ve required him to attend a party in which the guest list consisted solely of the twins’ friends.

Of Zoe’s friends, really, because Joey’s list would’ve been almost as short as Connor’s.

Connor’s official list would’ve been empty because the only name on it would’ve already been on Joey’s list.

The only name on it would’ve been the one that belonged to the person Connor was 99% sure was on the other side of his door.

He stared at the door for a minute after the knocking stopped. 

The house was silent. Probably because it was late and everyone was tired. He’d heard his parents go to bed an hour ago. Zoe’s music had been off for at least twenty minutes.

He hadn’t heard a peep from Joey since he’d turned in right after the last guest left. 

Connor shrugged and turned to face his bed again. 

Evan had given up. He assumed that was what the silence meant. Evan had given up and gone back to Joey’s room.

Connor pulled back his covers. He smoothed out his sheet and froze with his hand in mid-air when he heard a thumping sound in the hall.

He hurried to the door and slowly cracked it open.

Evan was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. He jumped up when the light from Connor’s room filled the hall.

“Sorry...” Evan muttered. “Did I wake you?”

Connor shook his head. “What’s wrong?”

Evan sighed and looked over his shoulder at Joey’s door. “I’m locked out.”

A startled chuckle escaped from Connor’s mouth. “Joey locked you out?”

“I went downstairs to get some water and take my meds and-” 

Evan chewed his lip and looked away. Connor forced his face to remain calm.

“-and the door was locked when I came back.”

Connor took a breath. He squared his shoulders and marched across the hall and banged on his brother’s door.

“He isn’t answering,” Evan said sheepishly. “I-I already tried.”

Connor lifted his fist again. He knocked so loudly that the sound woke Zoe. She stumbled into the hall and sleepily rubbed her eyes.

She yawned as she struggled to balance herself against the wall. “What’s going on?”

“Joey locked Evan out of his room.”

“Oh,” Zoe nodded dazedly. She turned to go.

Connor jumped in front of her before she could disappear. “Can you call him?”

“What?” Zoe whined. She looked at him like he’d lost his mind. 

“He won’t answer if I call him.” Connor gave her the shrewdest glare he could manage. He tried his hardest to convey the fact that he knew what this was. 

Operation Evan. The twins weren’t even trying to be subtle.

Or Joey wasn’t at any rate. Connor was getting the feeling that Zoe hadn’t known about this stunt.

“Can’t he just...” Zoe sighed and shrugged her shoulders like doing that was exhausting. “Can’t he sleep in your room?”

Evan gasped at the suggestion. Not loudly and not dramatically, but...

Connor glanced at him quickly. He wondered if Evan was starting to suspect what the twins were doing.

Of course, he was. He’d be a total idiot if he wasn’t.

Zoe darted back into her room before Connor could argue. Her lock clicked into place like that was that. Like she’d settled the matter by taking herself out of it.

He thought about going after her, about banging on her door until she handed over her phone. He thought about taking it and calling Joey and screaming at him to open his door.

His shoulders drooped as he nodded at his room. “You okay with sleeping on the floor?”

Evan nodded slightly and followed him in. 

Connor froze in the middle of his room. It took all of his willpower not to look back at Evan, to keep himself from watching as Evan glanced around his room.

He couldn’t remember the last time someone who wasn’t related to him had come into his room. 

He didn’t think anyone had ever come in, not like this at least. His family had had the occasional cleaning lady, but he’d managed to keep them at bay by making sure that his room was always reasonably neat. 

Zoe had friends over sometimes and he knew they liked to look in his room if the door was open. He knew they liked to stand in the hallway and pretend to check their phones or stretch or sigh like they were waiting for some life-altering thing to happen while they were really trying to catch a glimpse of the horrors they thought he kept hidden.

He knew that Evan himself had done that on multiple occasions. 

He didn’t think Evan had ever been in his room for an extended period of time though. Not really, not even in the reality the monks had made.

He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. It was a warm night, an unseasonably warm night. He normally wouldn’t have bothered wearing that many clothes to bed, but he suspected that sleeping in his boxers would take things to a level that Joey hadn’t even dreamed of.

Not like that. Not like...

Not like parading around in a pair of boxer shorts would cause something to happen.

Not like he wanted something to happen or...

It would just be...

It would be weird if Evan was sleeping in his room in a full set of pajamas while he had on next to nothing.

That would be extremely weird and awkward and uncomfortable in a way he didn’t want to think about just then.

He clutched the pajamas to his chest and ducked into his bathroom before his face could give him away.

Evan was still standing in the middle of the room when he returned. He was surprised until he remembered that this was Evan he was talking about.

Of course, Evan wasn’t going to make himself at home. Of course, he was going to stand there, blinking around the room, until he was told what to do.

“Here,” Connor said. He reached across his bed and grabbed one of his extra pillows. He tossed it to Evan. “I’ll get you a blanket from the closet.”

“That’s okay,” Evan said quickly.

Connor raised an eyebrow as he strode across the room. “You don’t need a blanket?”

“I, uh, I don’t want to-”

“Impose?” Connor finished. He rolled his eyes. He grabbed a quilt from the top of his closet and handed it over. “It’s fine. It’s not your fault. It’s Joey’s.”

Evan nodded stiffly. “Yeah...”

He settled himself down on the floor. He fluffed the pillow and unfolded the quilt and sighed. Or yawned. Connor wasn’t sure which.

Connor hopped over him and into bed as swiftly as he could manage. He stared at his light and debated whether he should turn it off.

He wasn’t tired yet. He hadn’t even been tired when Evan had first knocked on his door. 

He’d been planning to get in bed and watch something on his laptop. He hadn’t been planning to sleep.

He sat up and gazed down at Evan. “Do you care if I keep the light on?”

“Why? Are you scared of the dark?” 

Evan’s eyes widened when he realized what he’d said. He let out a startled laugh and leaned back on his elbows.

Connor couldn’t bring himself to glare. “No... I was going to...”

He nodded at his laptop. 

“Oh,” Evan mumbled. He suddenly sat up straight. “Not that there’s anything wrong with being afraid of the dark. _I’m_ afraid of the dark sometimes. It makes sense to fear it when you know what’s out there.”

Connor shook his head. “I’m not afraid of the dark.”

Evan nodded as though to say ‘if you insist.’

Connor sighed and opened his laptop. “I’m going to watch something.”

“Not _The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel_ ,” Evan muttered.

“No,” Connor wrinkled his nose.

He tapped his fingers on the keyboard while he waited for the computer to wake up. He breathed in harshly and scooted over before the thought had finished forming in his head.

“Do you want to...”

He didn’t finish his question. He stared at the screen and opened his browser and went to Netflix and started an episode of _Arrested Development_ before he finally allowed himself to look at Evan again.

Evan was sitting up straight, blinking at him like he wasn’t sure what to do.

Which was probably fair.

Definitely fair.

Connor scooted over as much as he could so that the right side of his body was pressed up against the wall.

Evan blinked at him for another moment before slowly standing up. He perched on the edge of the bed, took a breath, and swung himself around so that he was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Connor.

“I like this show,” Evan breathed.

Connor nodded. He positioned the laptop so that it was between them and leaned back against his headboard. 

Was this normal? Was this okay? Was this what people usually did we they stayed at each other’s houses?

Was this what they normally did when their annoying little brothers tried to play matchmaker? 

Should he say something? Should he address the elephant in the room? Was there even an elephant in the room or was it just his imagination?

Maybe he just felt like everything was...

Blech. That was the word for it.

How did people do this? 

Should he say something like ‘So I heard you’re bi. Any chance you might be interested in...’

No. No. No.

Definitely not.

Bad idea. Really bad idea.

Did the fact that Joey kept pushing them together mean that Evan liked him?

He couldn’t imagine Joey pushing his best friend into situations that would make him miserable.

Not knowingly at least.

Of course, there was always a chance that Joey had no idea what he was doing.

That sounded about right actually.

The fact that Zoe seemed to be helping him was more significant as far as Connor was concerned. She was practical and compassionate and good at reading people. He couldn’t imagine her getting roped into a misguided matchmaking scheme that could only end in disaster.

So, maybe he should be thanking his siblings for their efforts.

He smiled as Evan laughed at GOB’s antics.

Maybe.

 

The screen was black.

Connor yawned and closed his laptop. He shoved it down his bed until it was at the foot. He knew he should move it farther than that. He knew there was a good chance he’d end up kicking it to the floor the next time he rolled over.

Or that Evan would kick it when he moved.

Connor bolted up when he realized that.

They’d fallen asleep. Both of them. They’d fallen asleep and they were...

His arm was around Evan and Evan’s head was on his chest and...

Had he locked his door? He hoped he’d locked his door because he was going to die if anyone walked in on this.

Why hadn’t he gone to Evan? They should’ve sat on the floor. They should’ve sat on the floor and leaned against his bed.

That was what a normal person would’ve done, wasn’t it?

No wonder Evan had looked had him the way he had.

What was he supposed to do now? Was he supposed to wake Evan up? Was he supposed to try to laugh this off? Act like it was hilarious that they’d fallen asleep like this?

Was he supposed to...

Evan sighed and opened his eyes.

And looked Connor right in the eye.

He gasped and struggled to pull himself up.

He flailed around for a moment before he realized that they were twisted up in a way that made that task far more difficult than it should have been.

Connor couldn’t help laughing at the sight.

Evan’s mouth opened and closed several times. He blinked at Connor’s arm before turning to face Connor again. 

“Um...” Evan chuckled.

“We fell asleep,” Connor informed him.

“Yeah,” Evan muttered under his breath. He eyed the floor in a way that made Connor expect him to roll onto it.

“We should take a selfie. It’ll make Joey’s day.”

Connor wanted to cringe when he realized what he’d said. He tried to think of a way to take it back, to change its meaning. 

Evan laughed in spite of himself. “He, uh... You’ve noticed that too?”

“He really isn’t trying to hide it.”

“I’ll ask him to stop.”

“You haven’t asked him already?”

Evan’s face somehow managed to go white and red at the same time. Connor wasn’t sure how. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or if the darkness just made it seem that way. He wasn’t entirely sure what was making Evan panic, but it was enough to make him regret his question.

“I haven’t either,” Connor admitted.

“Oh,” Evan nodded.

“There are worse things than being forced to spend time with you.”

Connor wasn’t sure what made him say that. He wasn’t sure what had made say any of it.

It was the truth though. 

He hadn’t tried to stop Joey. Not really anyway. He could’ve done more. A lot more.

And he did like spending time with Evan.

He hadn’t planned on saying that out loud though.

Or in his head. Not in those words. Not in a way that openly acknowledged what he was thinking. Feeling.

He had though and now he had to deal with it.

He had to figure out how to deal with it.

He kind of felt like he deserved a pat on the back because he was thinking about how to deal with it. Dr. Miller would be so proud.

He wasn’t acting on impulse. He wasn’t letting himself react without worrying about the consequences. 

He wasn’t kissing Evan.

The fact that that was the thing the impulsive side of his brain kept telling him to do made him dizzy. 

It made him wonder what his breath was like and whether his lips were as chapped as they felt and if he was misinterpreting this whole thing.

It made him grateful for whatever it was that was stopping him. 

It made him freeze before he worked up the courage to look at Evan again. A small smile crept across his face when he saw Evan’s expression.

He wasn’t misinterpreting the situation. Not entirely at least. Maybe not at all.

“Hey,” Connor breathed.

“Hey?” Evan parroted. 

“Do you, uh, do you maybe want to do something sometime?”

“Something like...” Evan inhaled shakily. He stared at Connor for a beat. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Is that what the kids call it these days?” Connor chuckled.

Evan let out a small laugh. “I don’t know...”

Connor frowned when he didn’t go on. He pulled his arm out from under Evan and sat up so he could stare down at him. “You don’t know if that’s what people call it nowadays or you don’t know if you want to go out with me?”

“The first one,” Evan said quickly. 

“And the second?”

“Okay,” Evan nodded swiftly, exuberantly even.

And then he yawned.

At least he had the decency to look embarrassed about yawning.

It was cute in an endearing way.

Connor lowered himself back down. His eyes landed on his laptop. He really should move it before it got tossed to the ground.

He thought about asking Evan if he wanted to finish watching the episode they’d drifted off to, but he changed his mind when he saw that Evan’s eyes were fluttering closed.

He hummed to himself and slid all the way down so that they were lying next to each other.

They weren’t touching, but he had a feeling that would change before they woke up again.


	23. Chapter 23

Candy Winters was a legend. An actual living legend.

She was the unofficial leader of the unofficial worldwide Slayer organization.

Unofficial being the keyword there. In actuality, it was only unofficial to those who needed to believe that the Slayers were not in any way organized. Because that was a thing. Slayers were officially allowed to work together on a local level, but it terrified those in power to think that they were connected beyond that.

The fact that Candy Winters had unofficially led an unofficial union of Slayers for over twenty-five years would have been enough to make her a legend in Stormyvale, but her story was bigger than that.

She was the last solo Slayer, the one who had ended the whole Chosen _One_ nonsense, the one who had stopped over two dozen apocalypses.

The one who had stopped over two dozen apocalypses with her ragtag group of friends.

Friends. Not followers. Not lackeys. 

And definitely not Watchers.

No Watchers for the most part, that was. There was one older gentleman in the back of the pack that Zoe thought may have been a Watcher at one point.

Because that was another part of the Candy Winters legend. She had bucked the system a number of times and inspired others to do the same.

Zoe knew she should be embarrassed to be staring at Candy the way she was. She knew she should make herself look away. She couldn’t help it though.

At least she wasn’t the only one. Everyone in the room was watching Candy. Everyone was waiting for her to do or say something spectacular.

Candy didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy laughing with her friends to acknowledge the Slayers who were openly gaping at her.

“Why’s everyone staring?” Nicole whispered as she sidled up to Zoe.

Zoe scoffed at the question. “That’s Candy Winters!”

Nicole nodded slightly. “The girl from the video?”

Zoe looked at her former best friend in disbelief. 

Nicole wrinkled her nose as she looked Candy up and down. “Slaying’s really aged her.”

Zoe put a hand on her hip. “She made that video, like, twenty-five years ago!”

She rolled her eyes when she saw that Nicole wasn’t the only newbie who only knew Candy as the girl from the introductory video they’d watched when they’d first been called.

Because that was how these things went, wasn’t it? No matter how many demons you killed, no matter how many lives you saved, no matter how many apocalypses you prevented, some people would only remember you as the girl in the Intro to Slaying video.

“She should redo it,” Nicole decided. “It’s misleading the way it is. It makes it look like there’s a twenty-something-year-old running the show.”

Zoe shook her head and turned away in a way that she hoped would tell Nicole that their conversation was over.

“Do you think she’s embarrassed that she’s old now?” Nicole continued. 

“She isn’t old,” Zoe hissed.

“She’s gotta be old enough to be our mother,” Nicole insisted.

“I think she’s been too busy saving the world to film a new video.”

Nicole shrugged. “Then she should let someone else do it. One of us. Lena would love that job.”

Zoe had had enough. She stepped away from Nicole and squeezed herself into the gap on the wall between Sam and Fiona.

She didn’t look back, not even when she heard Nicole call after her.

Sam and Fiona didn’t ask. They had the decency to pretend they didn’t know why she’d suddenly squished in between them.

Or maybe they hadn’t noticed. 

They too were busy gawking at Candy Winters.

“Have you heard anything?” Fiona asked Zoe.

“About what?” Zoe frowned.

“That’s your aunt up there, isn’t it?” Fiona nodded at the front of the room.

Zoe nodded. That was her aunt up there. Jamie had been deep in discussion with Bennie and Raquel since she’d arrived. 

Zoe didn’t know what to make of that. She wasn’t brave enough to go up and ask what was happening.

“Something major must be going down,” Sam said. “Why else would they have called in the big guns?”

Fiona rolled her eyes but not at Sam. She gestured at the girls standing in front of them. “Listen to them. Those morons won’t shut up about Ava Moore. ‘Why isn’t Ava here?’ ‘Why did they bring in that lady?’ ‘Was Ava unavailable?’ ‘Do you think we’ll ever get front row tickets to an Ava Moore concert?’ Morons.”

“I wouldn’t mind front row tickets to an Ava Moore concert,” Sam said thoughtfully.

“Me neither. All the better to chuck things at her.”

Sam snorted and shook their head. “It would be entertaining. You have to admit that.”

“Oh, sure, entertaining all right. Especially the part where she stakes a vampire on stage for everyone to see. You’d think that act would’ve gotten old by now.”

One of the newbies – Kate? Katie? Kathy? Zoe was going to have to learn all their names one of these days – spun around to glare at Fiona. “Ava Moore does a public service every time she takes the stage. She teaches people how to kill vampires. That’s something everyone should know.”

“Right,” Fiona drawled. “Ava’s practically a saint. The way she slays vamps on stage is in no way designed to rev up her fan base. It’s in no way meant to make people jerk themselves off while they watch her-”

Sam suddenly clapped a hand over Fiona’s mouth. “Fi! They’re fifteen!”

Fiona shook Sam off. “So?”

Sam simply stared.

Fiona rolled her eyes and sighed like she was making a huge personal sacrifice. “All right, fine. Carry on, kiddos. Keep worshipping your false idol.”

Sam leaned forward conspiratorially. “Have you all heard Ava’s latest single? I’ve been listening to it all day.”

“And you wonder why I never let you control the music in the car?” Fiona sighed and made a face at Zoe as Sam continued to chat with the younger Slayers about whether Ava’s new sound was any different from her old sound.

“You really haven’t heard anything?” Fiona whispered. She nudged Zoe’s shoulder and gestured at their Watchers.

Zoe shook her head. 

She didn’t know what this was about. Not really.

She didn’t know why they’d all been called in for an emergency meeting. She didn’t know why Candy Winters and her posse had come to town. She didn’t know why Aunt Jamie was still having what looked like an earth-shattering conversation with the Watchers.

She hadn’t heard anything official, but she had a feeling this was one of those times she could probably guess what was going on without being told.

 

The posters had gone up ten days after the Initiative set up base in Stormyvale.

They first appeared in the high school, but it didn’t take long for them to be plastered all over town. 

As part of their continuous efforts to aide the communities they invaded and make up for past errors, the Initiative was offering a free magical health screening to all Stormyvale citizens under the age of twenty.

In other words, they were looking for someone and this was their way of having the person come to them.

Zoe didn’t have to be a genius to guess what this was all about.

The Key. They were looking for the Key.

Heidi had warned her that this might be coming.

Not _this_ exactly, but something like it.

Heidi’s sources, her clients, had been telling her for sometime now that local teenagers were going missing. 

The most recent one had been a sixteen-year-old boy. 

A boy who had told his parents that people had been approaching him all week and asking him if he’d seen their keys. He’d thought it was funny. He’d laughed about how all the middle-aged people in his neighborhood were losing their minds and their keys. 

Zoe wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that, but she didn’t think she needed to be. 

She knew enough to know what it meant. 

Joey was in danger and it was her job to protect him.

 

The meeting was a quick one. Candy Winters was not one to drone on unnecessarily.

Or maybe she was and the jet lag had done her in.

She simply told the Slayers that they should not trust the posters that the Initiative had put up, that they should discourage people from going in for the free screenings.

Candy had claimed not to know what this was really about.

Zoe wasn’t sure if she believed Candy. She wasn’t even sure if she trusted her. 

Not when it came to Joey at least.

She supposed this was why the monks had made Joey her twin brother. They could’ve made him anything or anyone. A pen or a stuffed animal or a cranky old man who yelled at kids for playing on his lawn. She would’ve been a lot more willing to hand the Key over if it had been turned into one of those things.

But Joey? Her twin? Not a chance.

 

Zoe wasn’t surprised when her aunt motioned for her to stay behind after the meeting let out. She slipped away from Sam and Fiona, ignored Nicole’s curious stare, and went to lean against the wall next to the door.

Jamie was still talking to Bennie and Raquel, so it gave Zoe a chance to observe Candy and her friends as they packed up to leave.

Her heart felt heavy in her chest as she watched them joke around with each other. She watched as one of the women examined a cut on Candy’s arm, as the former Watcher said something that made one of the men roll his eyes and say something that was so sarcastic it made Zoe want to laugh from across the room. 

They were at ease with each other in a way that Zoe couldn’t comprehend. She didn’t have that kind of comradery with anyone in her life.

She got along with Sam and Fi and she trusted them to watch her back, but she didn’t think they looked like that. She didn’t think they looked like they were a whole when they were together.

She hadn’t had that when she’d been part of the Zoe-Nicole-Maya-Jenny quartet. She’d thought she had at the time. She’d thought that their little clique was straight out of a movie. They were like the Plastics, only not as mean.

Of course, the joke had been on her. Nicole had embraced her inner Regina George when Zoe had been called and she’d managed to drag Maya and Jenny along for the ride.

Zoe wondered what it would’ve been like if she’d had friends like Candy’s. She wondered if she’d gone about things differently if Nicole and the others would’ve accepted that she was a Slayer from the start. She wondered if whatever it was that had caused them to turn on her – fear or jealousy, she still wasn’t sure which – would’ve been shoved aside if she’d tried harder to include them.

She wondered what her life would’ve been like if she’d been in Candy’s shoes. The Chosen One, not one of the Chosen.

She wondered what it would’ve been like to keep all this a secret. She wondered what it would’ve been life to feel the pressure of knowing that the world depended on her – and only her – to keep it safe.

It would’ve been different. She knew that for a fact.

So different she couldn’t wrap her mind around it.

As it was, slaying kind of felt like the year she’d played soccer. 

It was a sport, a hobby, something she did in her spare time. Something she did when her phone reminded her that it was her night to patrol. 

It didn’t define her. It wasn’t the most important thing in her life. 

It wasn’t something she’d do until she died.

At least she hoped it wasn’t. 

Hopefully, it was just something she’d do until she aged out of it. Until her bones and her joints and her reflexes weakened. Until it was time for her to step aside and watch the next generation of Slayers take over.

She couldn’t imagine sticking around and mentoring younger Slayers when she was Candy’s age. She couldn’t imagine staying in the game the way Heidi and Maggie had. 

She couldn’t imagine letting this dictate what direction her life would go in. She couldn’t imagine straying too far from the path she’d always been on – college, job, family. That was the dream, wasn’t it?

For most people, maybe, but there was a part of Zoe that wasn’t sure if she could still imagine herself leading a life her parents would consider normal.

 

The house was quiet and smelled like garlic.

That could only mean one thing. Their parents were out and Joey had ordered dinner.

Zoe dropped her backpack by the door and hurried into the kitchen. She was starving. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until the smell of cheesy garlic bread smacked her in the face.

Joey and Connor were standing at the kitchen island, eating pizza and looking at something on Joey’s tablet.

Zoe helped herself to a piece and went to see. She nearly choked on the cheese when she saw the page.

“What’re you doing?” 

The question came out harsher than she’d intended. She swallowed and tried not to look too alarmed as she snatched the tablet away from Joey.

“Hey!” Joey hissed. He tried to grab it back, but he wasn’t a match for Zoe. Not even close.

“You’re letting him sign up for this?” Zoe raised her eyebrows at Connor. 

He frowned at her like he didn’t catch her meaning at all. Like he had no idea why it was a terrible idea to let Joey sign up for one of the Initiative’s free screenings.

Zoe would have to have a talk with him later. Much later. After Joey and their parents were asleep.

“We’re going to be spies,” Joey said excitedly. “We’re going to go in there and get some inside info for you all.”

Zoe shook her head at Connor. “You think this is a good-”

“Why don’t you want me to help you?” Joey interrupted. “You never want my help with anything. You won’t let me patrol with you.”

“Because you’re as graceful as a drunken hippo!”

“You don’t want me to join the Slaymate club.”

“That club’s stupid!” Zoe looked to Connor for support. “Isn’t it?”

“Really stupid,” Connor agreed solemnly.

“We used to do everything together,” Joey whispered softly. “And now it’s like... I don’t know. I started learning magic so I could help you and you don’t even...”

Joey sniffed. 

Zoe breathed in quickly. She could feel herself relax when she saw that he wasn’t crying. He was just scratching his nose.

And giving her the worst puppy dog look she’d ever seen.

“These people are dangerous,” Zoe told him. “We just had a meeting about them. This thing they’re doing, it isn’t out of the goodness of their hearts. They’re doing it to find someone.”

Zoe looked Connor in the eye when she said the word ‘someone.’

Connor gasped.

Zoe squeezed her eyes shut when Joey turned to stare at him. 

“I didn’t realize...” Connor mumbled.

“Realize what?” Joey asked suspiciously.

Zoe shook her head slightly. A few minutes ago, she wouldn’t have thought it was necessary to tell Connor to keep quiet, but she was questioning that now. 

He’d gasped. He had such little control over his actions that he hadn’t been able to stop himself from gasping out loud?

“What’s going on?” Joey demanded. He folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes at them. 

He chewed his lip and stared at the counter when they didn’t respond. “Are they... are they looking for me?”

Zoe automatically turned to glare at Connor. If he gasped this time, she was going to kick him in the shins.

She forced herself to laugh. “What? No. Not unless you’ve done something to make the US Government-”

“I summoned the singing demon!” Joey grabbed at his hair. “Do you think-”

“I bet they’re cracking down on people who are using magic for illegal things,” Connor said slowly. “You better lay low until this blows over.”

Joey watched his hands as they flexed in front of him. “I wonder if Evan knows what this is about. His dad works for them, you know.”

Zoe nodded absentmindedly. She hoped Evan wouldn’t give anything away if Joey tried to make him talk.

“I should warn Jared,” Joey decided. “I should tell him not to go in for a screening.”

“Let him go,” Connor pled. “Come on. It’ll be funny.”

Joey shook his head firmly. “I have calls to make.”

He turned on his heel and strode out of the room like a man on a mission.

Connor waited until they heard Joey’s door slam shut. “So, this is about-”

Zoe nodded swiftly. “It’s why the Initiative’s in town. They want to find the Key and take it into their custody.”

“For protection,” Connor said doubtfully.

Zoe nodded again. “Jamie asked me if I told Mom and Dad about Joey.”

“You haven’t, have you?”

Zoe shook her head. “You?”

“No,” Connor breathed. “So, what’s the plan then?”

“We keep Joey safe,” Zoe began. “We-”

She cut herself off when she saw a shadow dancing around at the top of the kitchen stairs. She took a breath and leapt forward and...

There was no one there.

She glanced over her shoulder at Connor.

He shrugged.

She leaned forward to look up the stairs.

There, hanging from the railing at the top, was one of their mother’s purses, swinging like it had just been jostled.


	24. Chapter 24

It was a bad idea to make vague plans to go out with someone you saw almost every day. 

It was a really bad idea to do that while you were both half-asleep because then it was easy to convince yourself that the conversation had been a dream.

And what were you supposed to do about that? Were you supposed to ask the other person in the morning? Were you supposed to wake up and look them in the eye and ask if the two of you had really had _that_ conversation last night?

That didn’t seem right. What if it really was a dream? Then they’d know that you’d dreamt about them. They’d know that you’d had a dream in which they asked you out.

So, asking them was a bad idea. An all-around bad on so many levels idea that Evan only considered it about twenty times before he decided to bury it somewhere in the back of his brain. 

He decided to look at this logically.

Connor had done the asking, if there had been any asking. Therefore, it was his responsibility to follow up on it.

Evan decided to leave it at that.

 

The problem with possibly making vague plans with someone you saw almost every day was that it added a certain something to every interaction you had with that person.

It made you start wondering if this was it, if this was something that could be considered a date, every time you hung out.

Well, not every time. School didn’t count. Neither did the times they saw each other at Connor’s house because at least one person from his family was always with them. Joey, usually, but it wasn’t unusual for Connor’s parents and Zoe to be around too. It wasn’t unusual for Connor’s mom to come in the room and ask if they needed anything or for his dad to try to make small talk with Evan and ask how his college search was going.

Which was probably a good thing for Evan’s anxiety levels. Otherwise, he would’ve been on edge every time he saw Connor. Otherwise, he would’ve driven himself crazy with questions he didn’t dare ask aloud.

 

Evan’s mind went blank when he saw the text from Joey.

Zoe had picked him up. Meaning they weren’t on their way to get him. Meaning they really were alone.

Alone for the first time in a week. Alone for the first time since Evan had spent the night at the Murphys’ house.

Evan put his phone down and willed himself to stay calm.

There was no need to panic. He knew that. The fact that they were alone, that they were going somewhere alone, that they were not on their way to pick up Joey didn’t mean they were on a date.

Because for something to count as a date, you had to ask the other person and make your intentions clear ahead of time, didn’t you? That was the polite thing to do. You had to give them a chance to panic and psych themself out and psych themself up. 

You didn’t just call them a week after you possibly had a late night conversation in which you asked if they wanted to do something sometime and ask if they wanted to go somewhere with you. 

Or maybe you did. 

Maybe Connor thought his intentions had been clear when he’d made the call.

Evan decided to test that theory.

He waved his phone. “Zoe picked Joey up from the store.”

Connor’s face scrunched up with what was very clearly confusion. “Okay...”

Evan inhaled sharply and pocketed his phone again. 

Theory confirmed then. This had nothing to do with Joey. It had never had anything to do with Joey. The fact that Joey had texted him about needing a ride home two minutes before Connor called had just been a coincidence.

Which meant...

Evan resisted the urge to ask if this was a date because even he knew how stupid that question sounded. 

His phone went off again. The twins were going to get something to eat. Joey wanted to know if he wanted them to pick him up. 

Evan put his phone away without responding. He didn’t know what to say to that. 

His head snapped up when he realized they were slowing down. He quickly looked around.

He’d thought it was kind of weird they were in the middle of nowhere, but he hadn’t questioned it. Joey liked going to weird stores and there were lots of shortcuts that Evan didn’t know about.

He’d never been to this part of town. He didn’t think he had anyway. 

It was a woodsy area. A clearly deserted, woodsy area.

It was Evan’s turn to be confused. He tilted his head at Connor and opened his mouth to ask where they were. He stopped himself when he saw how annoyed Connor looked.

“It’s closed?” Connor muttered. He pulled out his phone and started tapping the screen.

“What’s closed?”

“The orchard,” Connor sighed. He gestured at the side of the road.

Evan leaned forward to see. He wasn’t entirely sure what Connor was pointing at. The only thing there was a sign that was covered in moss and falling down.

“You wanted to go to an orchard?” 

“I...” Connor sighed and lowered his phone. “I should’ve looked it up before we left. I just...”

He gestured around them. “You like trees.”

He looked at Evan for confirmation.

Evan nodded.

“When I think of trees, I always think of this place. We used to come here when I was a kid. I couldn’t remember the name or where it was exactly, so I asked my mom and...” He shrugged. 

Evan reached for the car door.

Connor squinted at him uncertainly. “What’re you doing?”

“We can still look around, can’t we?”

“It’s closed.”

“Which means it’s free.”

“The building’s boarded up and the gate’s locked.”

“So we’ll go around the gate.” Evan pulled on the handle. “I don’t see a ‘no trespassing’ sign, do you?”

Connor shook his head and unlocked the car. “Are you sure? We can go somewhere else.”

“I think I came here with my parents once,” Evan said. He blinked as he glanced around again. “Is there a duck pond somewhere?”

“Down the hill,” Connor nodded.

“I remember feeding the ducks with my mom when I was five, maybe six.”

“The twins and I used to feed the ducks. Zoe threw an entire loaf in once. She cried when our dad told her not to do that again, that she was lucky she hadn’t drowned a duck.”

Evan’s face lit up when he spotted a playground that had obviously seen better days. “There, that’s where my dad taught me the proper way to climb a tree.” 

“There’s an improper way to climb a tree?” Connor laughed. His laughter suddenly cut short and his face grew pale.

Evan stopped walking and looked at him in alarm. “What’s wrong?”

“Shit,” Connor muttered under his breath. “I wasn’t thinking...”

“Thinking about what?”

Connor looked positively sick when his head popped up again. He gestured at Evan’s arm so quickly that it was like he hadn’t moved. 

Evan’s breath caught in his chest. He willed himself to stay calm. 

“It’s fine,” he said swiftly. “I... It’s not the trees’ fault I’m broken.”

He cringed when he realized what he’d said. He’d been trying to lighten the mood, not bring the date – he was almost certain this outing now fell into the date category – to a skidding stop.

“You think you’re broken?”

And there it was. Serious tone, serious expression. Date ruined. Relationship over before it started. This had to be some kind of record.

Evan took a breath and looked around a bit more frantically than he would’ve liked. “What’s the saying? If you fall off a horse, you have to get back on? So, if you fall out of a tree, you-”

“You want to climb a tree?”

Evan nodded hysterically. He started towards one by the play area. 

“Now?” Connor asked. He fell into step with Evan before moving forward so he was blocking the path. 

“Yeah,” Evan shrugged.

“Okay,” Connor said calmly. He put a hand on Evan’s arm and tried to steer him towards a picnic table. “Let’s sit a second, okay?”

“I’m not going to let go,” Evan said sharply. He’d meant to sound calm, but that ship had sailed. 

“Let’s sit,” Connor insisted. He sat down and raised his eyebrows until Evan did the same. 

They didn’t say anything for a minute. Evan’s heart did an entire gymnastics routine as he scuffed his foot along the ground.

“Are you talking to Dr. Sherman about this?”

“About this?” Evan chuckled harshly. His heart did another flip when he realized that Connor remembered the name of his therapist. He shook his head and pushed that thought away.

“This is the kind of thing he should-”

“He knows I struggle with...” Evan shrugged. “He knows I feel disconnected from things sometimes. He knows I feel like I don’t...”

“Don’t what?”

“Matter, I guess.” Evan’s cheeks puffed out as he stared straight ahead.

Connor nodded like he got that. He stopped and looked Evan in the eye. “Do you want to keep talking about this?”

Evan did a double take because he hadn’t realized that he had the option to stop. He shook his head.

Connor nodded to himself. “We can though. Anytime. Seriously, anytime.”

“Okay,” Evan muttered. He thought about what he knew about Connor, about what Connor had told him after he’d sung the song about how he’d broken his arm. “That goes for you too.”

Silence fell over them again. It was awkward and comfortable and something else that Evan couldn’t pinpoint. 

He leaned back against the picnic table and stared at the sky.

“Your dad’s back in town?” Connor asked conversationally. He blinked when Evan turned to look at him. “Joey said he’s working with those commando guys.”

“He’s part of the Initiative,” Evan replied. “He’s been with them for eight years. Apparently.”

“Apparently? You didn’t know?”

“Neither of us did. My mom didn’t have a clue until he showed up in her office.”

“Your parents are divorced, right?”

Evan nodded. “But still. You’d think that would be the kind of thing you’d inform your ex about, especially when she’s working in the same field you’re in.”

“Do you think they can be trusted? The Initiative. Do you think-”

Evan’s phone started ringing in his pocket. He jumped and shrugged apologetically. “It’s Joey.”

Connor motioned for him to go ahead and answer.

“Hey,” Joey shouted to be heard over the noise in the background. “We’re going to the movies. You want to meet us there?”

“I can’t,” Evan said quickly.

“Why not?”

Evan glanced at Connor out of the corner of his eye. “I’m with Connor actually.”

“You are?”

“Yeah...”

“Oh. Well, bring him with you. We’re not sure what we’re seeing yet, but-”

“I can’t,” Evan insisted. “This isn’t a good time, okay?”

Joey was silent for a moment. “Okay... Well, if you change your mind-”

“I’ll let you know,” Evan promised. He hung up before Joey could press the matter.

“Zoe thinks the Initiative’s after Joey,” Connor said. “She thinks they want to lock him up because they’re afraid he’s dangerous. Have you heard anything?”

“From my dad? No.” Evan laughed humorlessly. “He stopped by to let my mom know he’s in town, but that’s it. We only talked for a minute. He keeps texting me about meeting up for dinner one night, but I’m not holding my breath.”

“Does he know about Joey?”

“Did I tell him Joey’s the Key?” Evan blinked at the suggestion. 

“That he’s your best friend? Is he going to want to meet Joey?”

“I doubt it,” Evan huffed. “He only pays attention to me when it’s convenient for him.”

Connor chewed his lip. “It would be convenient for him if he figures out this his son’s best friend is the thing his employers are after.”

“The thing?”

“You know what I mean...”

“It would be convenient for him,” Evan agreed. “That’s why I plan to keep them apart.”

“Do you think he’s dangerous? Joey. Do you think they’re right to want to lock him up?” Connor tugged at his hair. “Zoe won’t even think about it. As far as she’s concerned, he’s her twin. That’s it. End of story.”

“I get that,” Evan admitted. “I get how she feels. I feel like Joey’s best friend even though I know it’s not real.”

“It is real,” Connor reminded him.

“As real as the monks made it. As real as it can be given the circumstances.”

“Zoe insists she can protect him herself. She doesn’t think we need the government’s help. What do you think?”

Evan took a second to think about it. He understood where Zoe was coming from. He knew it was worse for her. He knew finding out that your best friend of one year was a ball of energy turned human couldn’t compete with finding out that your twin brother hadn’t always been your twin brother.

He also understood why she didn’t want the Initiative’s help. He wasn’t sure if he trusted them. Any of them, including his father. He couldn’t help wondering if they were in over their heads though.

“I don’t know. I hate to think about him being locked away in a government facility. None of this is his fault. I bet he was perfectly happy bouncing around as a ball of energy. No worries, no stress... He didn’t ask to be turned into a human. He doesn’t deserve to be punished for something that was done to him.” Evan sighed and grabbed at his sleeves. “It’ll be a disaster if he falls into the wrong hands though.

“The world would end,” Connor nodded. “That’s what the monks said, wasn’t it?”

“Basically. His blood would open up a portal that would cause death and destruction for-”

There was a rustling sound in Evan’s lap. He looked down and...

The call hadn’t disconnected. He hadn’t hung up correctly. He hadn’t hung up at all.

How had he managed that? What kind of moron couldn’t hang up properly?

He couldn’t think about that just then. He dropped the phone like it had scalded him, snatched it off the ground, and ended the call by pressing his finger to the screen so firmly he was surprised it didn’t crack.

His hands shook as he looked at Connor.

“How much do you think he heard?”


	25. Chapter 25

Joey remembered where he was the first time Ava Moore killed a demon in public. He remembered what he was doing, what he was wearing, what his parents said during the aftermath.

He wasn’t the only one whose memory of that night was vividly clear. He knew everyone who had been watching the awards show live could still recall the incident in great detail.

It was one of those things, like 9/11 and the JFK shooting, that had helped define a generation. 

He remembered what it had been like before the slaying occurred. He remembered laughing at Zoe as she tried to mimic Ava’s backup dancers. He remembered the way Connor slid down in his seat and sulked because Zoe had turned off his show so she could watch Ava’s performance live.

He remembered being confused when Ava beheaded a guy on stage. A guy in a really weird, really realistic costume. He remembered blinking at the screen when the audience screamed and panicked.

He remembered thinking that his parents probably wouldn’t want him to keep watching the show and moving closer to the screen before they came in to see what the fuss was about.

He remembered feeling dizzy when he realized the beheading had been real. 

He remembered the way Ava had looked at the camera as she brandished the demon’s head like it was a trophy. He remembered Ava’s speech. Not word for word. He couldn’t remember her exact words. He knew they were still out there. He knew it would be easy for him to find a clip of the incident online. He knew he could easily track down a transcript of her speech.

He didn’t need to do that though. 

It didn’t matter what she’d said. Her exact words were inconsequential. 

It only mattered that she’d said them.

It only mattered that those words had changed everything.

 

Joey remembered a lot of things.

He remembered crying when he found out that he wasn’t in the same kindergarten class as Zoe.

He remembered the day Connor threw the printer because that was the first time they didn’t sit together on the bus ride home. That was the first time one of their parents had to come get Connor because his teacher was afraid he’d do something worse.

He remembered joining Little League. He remembered the moment he realized that his father was more into it than he was.

He remembered going to the zoo with his mother and proudly declaring that she didn’t have to worry because he’d protect her from the snakes.

He remembered the hell that had been middle school, the hell that had been his first year of high school.

He remembered meeting Evan at the start of sophomore year. He remembered being excited when he saw he wasn’t the only one still using a Hogwarts keychain.

He remembered pouncing on Evan and noticing, but not caring, that his enthusiasm was clearly too much for Evan to handle.

He remembered asking Evan if he too hoped that it would eventually be revealed that Hogwarts was real. Because why not? 

If vampires and ghosts and demons were all real, if there were girls who were destined to keep them in check, if magic itself was real, then who could say there was no way Hogwarts existed? 

He remembered the first time he sat with Evan at lunch. He remembered the first time they hung out outside of school. He remembered thinking this was it. He’d found someone who liked him, who didn’t think he was annoying or weird. He’d found someone to talk to who wasn’t his twin sister.

Most of all, he remembered how exciting it had been to finally have a friend of his own. 

 

Joey had a favorite color (orange). He had a favorite food (pizza, any kind as long as there weren’t any anchovies on it). He had a current favorite tv show ( _Stranger Things_ ). He had an all-time favorite tv show ( _Fringe_ ). He had a favorite book series (Harry Potter, of course) and a favorite non-Harry Potter book ( _The Book Thief_ ). He thought it was unfair that Adele was more popular than Florence + the Machine. 

He was a Hufflepuff through and through.

He was allergic to shellfish. He’d had his tonsils out when he was eight. He had to get stitches on his knee when he was ten. 

He liked playing video games and helping his dad with his crossword puzzles. It made him feel smart whenever he knew something his father didn’t know.

He didn’t know what he wanted to be when he grew up. That scared him sometimes. Other times, he found it exciting. It made him feel like the possibilities were limitless.

He had a heart and a brain and a fully-functioning body.

He wasn’t a thing. He wasn’t an it. 

Things didn’t have opinions and thoughts and dreams. 

Things didn’t feel like their guts were being shredded when they learned the truth.

 

Joey stared at his phone when he finally disconnected the call.

He stared at it and waited for it to ring.

He waited for Evan to call back and laugh about the hilarious joke they’d just played on him. He waited for Connor to join in, for the two of them to inform him that this was their weird, twisted form of revenge.

Revenge for being an annoying little brother, a meddling best friend.

He waited and waited and...

He pocketed his phone when he saw Zoe come out of the bathroom.

He watched her face drop when she saw his expression.

He took a breath and made a choice. 

He had to know if she knew. He had to know if this was some kind of joke that was going over his head. 

“You ready?” Zoe asked quietly. Cautiously.

Joey nodded. “Do you have your key?”

Zoe tilted her head uncertainly. “I thought you had the keys.”

Joey smacked his head. “Right... _I_ have the car key.”

“Are you okay? You look-”

“Pale? Tired? Like I don’t have any energy?”

Zoe blinked at him. “What-”

“Like I need my big, strong, Slayer sister to protect me.” He looked her in the eye and used air quotes when he said the word ‘sister.’ 

She didn’t respond. 

She just stood there, blinking at him until her phone began to ring.

Joey motioned for her to answer it.

He took a breath and leaned against the wall.

“This isn’t a good time,” she hissed into her phone. Her eyes widened as she glanced over her shoulder at Joey. “You two said what?”

And there it was.

Proof that Zoe knew what they’d been talking about. Proof that she was taking it seriously. Proof that it was something Joey should be taking seriously.

Joey stared at his hands. He picked at a piece of skin that was peeling.

What had Evan said about his blood? That it would cause death and destruction? 

Joey wondered if Evan knew what he was talking about. He kind of doubted it because it wasn’t like he never bled. He was accident-prone. He’d gotten a papercut the day before, for goodness’ sake! 

Maybe this was all some big misunderstanding. Maybe they were all mistaken. Maybe they’d slipped into an alternate universe where Joey was the only one thinking rationally.

Except was this really all that irrational?

Joey had always felt like he didn’t belong. He’d always felt like something was different about him.

There were times when he’d chalked that up to wishful thinking. There were times when he’d thought that he wanted so badly to be part of the exciting new world that Ava Moore had introduced him to that he had started imagining things about himself.

That had been especially true after Zoe was called.

He’d felt left out. He’d worried that she was going to leave him behind. 

And he’d been right.

Zoe had always tried to keep him away from this part of her life. He’d tried to respect that. 

Sort of.

He’d hated it. He hadn’t agreed with it. He’d tried not to be too much of a nuisance though. He hadn’t followed her when she went patrolling. He hadn’t tagged along to her Slayer meetings.

He hadn’t even asked her a lot of questions.

He’d let her be, for the most part. He’d let her leave him behind.

His curiosity had finally started getting the best of him though. He’d come to the conclusion that he wasn’t imagining the fact that he was being left out of something important. Something that had something to do with him.

He’d heard Zoe talking to Connor. He’d heard her say they needed to keep him safe.

He’d heard them say the Initiative was looking for him. 

He hadn’t understood why until he’d heard Connor talking to Evan.

A government organization wanted to lock him up because he was a ball of energy that had the power to open portals and destroy the world? A government organization thought they needed to protect him from the world? Or protect the world from him? 

Joey wasn’t sure which. He wasn’t sure of any of it. 

Part of him hoped there was a logical explanation for all of this.

He knew Zoe had been more protective than usual lately. He’d noticed that. It would’ve been difficult not to notice.

He’d also noticed that Connor had been paying more attention to him. 

And that Evan had been paying less.

His head felt like it was floating in outer space. His stomach felt sick and his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest.

He narrowed his eyes at Zoe when she finished her call.

She chewed her lip and let the phone flop from hand to hand before putting it away.

“It’s true?” Joey whispered. “What they said. It’s...”

Zoe nodded numbly. Her face twisted to the side like she was preparing herself to give him a pep talk. “It doesn’t change anything. You’re still-”

Joey turned on his heel. 

It only took Zoe a second to catch up with him. Less than a second. She really was that fast.

“We’re going home,” Zoe announced. 

“I thought we were going to the movies.”

“You still want to go to the movies?”

Joey shrugged. “Better than going home and listening to whatever BS story you all are going to-”

“I think it’s time for us to talk,” Zoe sighed. “All of us.”

Her tone was the final nail in the coffin. Any hope, any uncertainty, that Joey had still been clinging to was gone. 

He nodded and turned towards the door. “Do you mind driving? I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to get behind the wheel right now.”


	26. Chapter 26

“This has to be a joke. You honestly expect me to believe that Joey, our son, isn’t-”

“I gave birth to him. He came out of me. They both did. The twins. Two of them. Does this mean Zoe isn’t-”

“-human?”

Five minutes. It took his parents five minutes to synchronize their questions and stick the landing.

Joey slumped down in his seat and pulled his hood up like he always did when he wanted to be left alone. 

They were taking this better than he’d expected. 

They weren’t rolling their eyes and acting like their children were high. They were acknowledging that it was possible. They were trying to wrap their minds around the concept that Joey was actually an ancient ball of energy turned human.

He wondered if they’d already suspected it.

Not _it_ exactly. He didn’t think his parents were creative enough to come up with something like that on their own.

He wondered if they’d suspected there was something off about him, that he wasn’t really theirs.

He held his breath as his aunt tried to explain it again. He tuned her out. He didn’t need to hear her whole spiel about how he was human. He was still their human son. 

He stared at his hands. He picked at his nails. He checked his pulse.

He sat up straight and looked Jamie in the eye. “What would happen if I slit my wrists?”

His mother let out a strangled gasp. “Joey!”

He didn’t break his stare. He didn’t let himself look at his family. He didn’t let himself focus on the way they were gaping at him.

“Would the world end?” Joey continued. “What would happen if I died, if all my blood spilled out of me?”

Jamie hesitated. “Your blood can only be used to open portals under certain circumstances.”

“Like what?” Joey demanded. “What circumstances would be necessary for me to destroy the world?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Jamie admitted. “I can find out though. I can get in touch with my contacts-”

“You’re sure it’s Joey?” Larry interrupted. “You’re sure it’s not...”

Larry’s eyes darted around a moment before he leaned back to stare unblinkingly at the wall.

Connor twisted himself around to glare at their father. “Not what? Me? You’re wondering if she’s wrong and I’m the Key, aren’t you?”

“That’s not what I-”

“That would make sense, wouldn’t it? It would make sense for it to be the kid who doesn’t fit in, the one you don’t understand. And it would make this so easy for you. No discussion necessary. You could ship me off and move on with your lives.” Connor turned around to face Joey again. “You know that’s what they’re getting at with their questions, don’t you? They’re trying to figure out if it would be in their best interest to send you away.”

“Connor-” Cynthia started softly.

“This is what they always do,” Connor continued. “If they can’t handle something, if they don’t want to deal with someone, they ship them off.”

Zoe shook her head at him. “This isn’t the same thing.”

“We were trying to get you the help you needed,” Cynthia reminded him.

Connor scoffed at her remark, but he managed to hold his tongue.

Cynthia looked her sister in the eye. “What do you think?”

“Do I think you should hand Joey over to the Initiative?” Jamie blinked like the very idea of doing that repulsed her. “He’s my nephew, your son.”

“But you said that he needs to be kept safe.” Cynthia looked at her husband for support. “You said there will be people coming after him.”

“Demons,” Larry added. “Gods. She said there could be gods looking for him.”

“Gods...” Cynthia paled at the thought. 

“From other dimensions,” Larry filled in. “Gods who want to use Joey to open portals to their worlds.”

“We’re not equipped for that,” Cynthia whispered. “We don’t... We can’t-”

“Have that kind of riffraff in your house?” Connor snapped. “You can’t have people thinking you associate with things like that? When did you turn into the Dursleys?”

“Would we still be able to see him?” Cynthia asked. “Would he still be able to go to school and see his friends?”

“Oh, sure,” Connor rolled his eyes. “I’m sure the agents would be extremely accommodating and allow us to sign Joey out anytime we want. As long as we don’t interfere with whatever experiments they decide to use him for, that is.”

“Experiments?” Cynthia’s eyes widened. “You think-”

“Do I think the ‘formerly,’” Connor shaped his hands into quotation marks. “Note the air quotes. Do I think the ‘formerly’ evil government agency that has spent decades conducting experiments on humans and demons alike would love to run a series of tests on Joey? Not at all. I’m sure they just want to set him up in a nice, cushy suite with an unlimited supply of ice cream and the latest PlayStation.”

“Maybe we could ask about getting him a bodyguard,” Cynthia said slowly. “An undercover one, perhaps. There must be some young agents out there who could still pass as high school students.”

“He has a bodyguard,” Connor said. “Her name is Zoe.”

Zoe bristled when she heard her name. She shot Connor what could only be described as a warning glare.

“It’s true,” Connor shrugged. “It’s why Joey was placed in our family. The monks wanted him to have a Slayer sister.”

He gestured at Jamie. “And a witch aunt and a best friend whose mother is a Slayer. They planned it this way to keep him safe. Which is something their sector has managed to do for centuries, so I think it’s safe to say they know what they’re doing.”

“Except they realized they couldn’t handle it anymore,” Larry pointed out. He glanced at Jamie. “That’s what you said, wasn’t it?”

Jamie nodded slightly. “Why don’t we take a break? Sleep on it and start over fresh tomorrow.”

Joey breathed in quickly and started to pull himself off the couch.

He needed to get out of there. He needed to go up to his room and lie down and try to convince himself that this had all been a particularly weird dream.

His feet had just hit the ground when the conversation started over anew.

He squeezed his eyes shut as his parents once again tried to understand how their son – the boy they remembered raising, the boy they loved and thought of as their own – could possibly be something other than their own flesh and blood.

He rubbed his forehead when Jamie tried to break it down for them again.

Again. 

How many times had it been now? How many times did he have to hear this? How long did he have to stay there and listen to his family talk about him like he wasn’t there? Like he didn’t matter? Like he didn’t have a say in what was going to happen to him?

Did he have a say?

His heart jumped into his throat when he realized he didn’t. 

He didn’t have a say in this at all.

And why should he? He hadn’t had a say in it when the monks decided to make this his life.

He thought about what Evan had said. He wondered if he really had been happy bouncing around as a ball of energy.

The thought made him laugh out loud. Not because it was funny. 

Because it was absurd. Because all of this was so absurd that it felt like it was crushing him. 

Because it was totally, completely absurd and yet the gnawing feeling in his gut told him it was true.

He forced himself to stop laughing when he saw he was attracting attention. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and pulled himself off the couch.

Connor tilted his head at him. “Where are you going?”

“Bathroom,” Joey said defiantly.

Connor raised an eyebrow like he didn’t believe him. “You’re going to the bathroom?”

“I’m allowed to go to the bathroom, aren’t I? Or do I need to ask permission? Should I raise my hand and wait to be called on?”

Connor shrugged and pulled out his phone.

Joey wondered who he was texting until he saw Zoe reach for hers too.

They were texting each other. 

They were texting each other and ignoring him. 

It was like he wasn’t there. 

It felt like he shouldn’t be there. Like he never should’ve been there at all.

He slipped into the hallway and looked around. He eyed the stairs but didn’t go up.

He didn’t want to be in the house anymore. He didn’t want to sit there and listen while his family tried to sort through their feelings and decide on the best course of action.

Because that was the thing. They couldn’t let their emotions get in the way. They couldn’t decide to keep him around because they were feeling sentimental. 

They couldn’t let themselves be torn apart by something that never should’ve been their problem in the first place.

Joey felt numb when that thought took over his brain.

He took a breath and squared his shoulders and made a choice.

He grabbed his backpack off the floor. He pulled it onto his shoulder and reached for the door.

He opened it as quietly as he could. 

He didn’t look back. He didn’t hesitate. 

He made himself set off into the night before he could change his mind.


	27. Chapter 27

Joey grabbed his phone when he reached the end of the sidewalk.

Not because he wanted to call someone. Not because he wanted to see if anyone was trying to get ahold of him. Not because he wanted to compose a goodbye text. 

Because he wanted to see where the Initiative’s base was located.

Because in his hurry to leave, he’d failed to stop and think about the fact that he had no idea where they had set up shop.

He unlocked his phone and opened his browser and nearly jumped out of his skin when something suddenly bounced off his leg and landed on the ground behind him.

Car keys. His car keys. He’d know them anywhere.

He reached around to feel for a hole in his backpack. He let his hand drop when he remembered that the keys hadn’t been in there. Zoe had been the last one to have them.

Which meant...

Joey spun around. He wasn’t surprised to find someone standing behind him.

He was surprised that it wasn’t his sister.

“I’m starting to think Coach Gregory may have a point,” Evan said sheepishly. “About my aim, I mean. I was aiming for the front of your feet. I had a whole plan, you see. You were going to pick up the keys and get in the car and then I’d get in and ask where we’re going. It was going to be epic.”

“I’m sure it was,” Joey said consolingly. 

He kept walking. He wasn’t surprised when Evan fell into step with him.

“So,” Evan drawled. He sighed when Joey didn’t take the bait. “Where are we going?”

“For a walk?” Joey shrugged.

“For a walk?” Evan tilted his head disbelievingly. “Is this walk going to take us by the Initiative’s headquarters?”

Joey’s head flew up at that.

“Your siblings think you’re planning to turn yourself in.”

“They’ve been texting you all night, haven’t they?” Joey guessed. 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Evan nodded. “Connor told me you were leaving the house. Zoe told me she’d left the keys in the bushes behind the porch.”

“So what? You’ve been staking out my house all night, waiting for me to run away?”

“Not the whole time. I had a quick bite with my dad before I came here.”

That got Joey’s attention. He came to a sudden stop and whirled around. “You what?”

“Can we get in the car?” Evan begged. “We don’t have to go anywhere. I’d actually prefer it if we don’t, but I feel like this is the kind of thing we shouldn’t be discussing out in the open.”

Joey led the way. He unlocked the car and waited until Evan climbed in.

For a moment, for one brief but powerful moment, he considered the possibility of locking the car and making a run for it. He was fairly certain he could make it to the end of the street before Evan figured out how to free himself.

He didn’t though.

He got in the car and closed the door and locked it for good measure.

Not that it mattered.

No one had come out of the house. No one was even watching them through the window.

Evan followed his stare and nodded slightly. “Your parents are going to freak when they realize you left.”

Joey shrugged. “They’ll get over it.”

“You think they’ll get over it if you hand yourself over to the Initiative?”

“It’s better this way. Safer.”

“Do you think that matters to your family?”

“It should. Their safety should come first. They should keep that in mind.”

“Do you think that matters to Zoe? You know what she’ll say if you ask her. Her life is already dangerous. You don’t think she’d choose you over a slightly safer existence?”

“She’ll get over it. She’ll remember I’m not her twin and-”

“You are her twin. Genetically, you are her twin brother.” Evan’s face twisted like he was getting ready to give a serious pep talk. “And Connor-”

Joey let his breath out in a loud huff. He couldn’t handle yet another speech about how he really was a Murphy. “Can the monks lift the spell?”

“What do you mean?”

“Can they make you all forget? Can they change it back to the way it was, the way it should be?”

Evan chewed his lip in a way that made Joey feel triumphant.

“How can we get in touch with them?” Joey demanded. He pulled out his phone. “Is there a number or a website or-”

“We?” Evan sputtered. “I’m not helping you erase yourself.”

He grabbed at his hair. “I-I don’t even know if it’s possible. I don’t know if-”

“Fine,” Joey snapped. “I’ll do it myself.”

He yelped when his phone was snatched out of his hands. He felt like a little kid as he batted the air and tried to grab it back.

He sulked when Evan sat on it. “Really mature...”

Evan smiled tightly. “Do you want to know what my dad said or not?”

Joey kept his eyes straight ahead and didn’t move.

Evan seemed to take that as a yes.

“I didn’t get much out of him,” Evan admitted. “I didn’t ask very much because I was trying to be subtle about it.”

Joey let out a loud, barking laugh.

“I can be subtle!” Evan pouted. And then he laughed too. “My dad saw right through me though. He told me I should talk to my mom because she hacked into his computer when she went to his office with Maggie last week.”

Evan glanced at Joey out of the corner of his eye. “And then he told me he didn’t want to know why we’re so curious about all this. He said it doesn’t matter to him because he’s not going to be in town much longer. He has to get back to Colorado. He just came here to help get these guys started.”

Joey looked at him quickly. “Are you okay with all this? Was it weird seeing your dad?”

“It always is,” Evan shrugged. “I can’t believe he kept this from us. From me.”

He leaned back in his seat. “I get it though. I get why he sought them out. Or maybe they approached him. I’m not really sure.”

Evan’s cheeks puffed out and he sighed to himself. “But I get it. Don’t tell my mom, but I kind of get why it was hard for him to be married to her. It’s hard to be around all this and feel like... like you’re nothing. A nobody.”

“You’re not-”

Evan gave him a small smile. “I am and that’s okay. I’m never going to be a Slayer, but I’m never going to follow in my dad’s footsteps either. I’m never going to join the Initiative because those guys are nuts.”

“Including your dad?”

Evan wrinkled his nose. “When he’s on the job, absolutely. The field protocols those guys are taught are just...”

Evan used his hands to mime a bomb exploding. “It’s a wonder he’s kept his head on straight at all.”

“You said he’s leaving soon?”

“Yeah,” Evan muttered. He took a breath and sat up straight. “So, I asked my mom what she found out and she said nothing. As in she found out nothing. Not that she didn’t say anything.”

“You think she’s lying?”

Evan shook his head. “We don’t think the government knows what they’re looking for or why. Not exactly anyway. That so-called magical screening they’re doing is total BS. We’re almost positive they wouldn’t be able to detect anything, even if you came in for a test. They’re relying on the questions they ask during the intake interviews to guide their way.”

“If I walked in there and told them I’m the Key, they’d-”

“Lock you up and run every test they know how to run. Maybe something would show up, maybe not. My dad doesn’t deal with that part of the job.”

“Can they protect me though?”

“Better than we can?” Evan raised his eyebrows like he’d been insulted. “Better than Zoe can, I mean? And my mom and your aunt and-”

“Zoe’s Slayer army, if they ever find out.”

“Even without knowing the truth, you know they’d help defend you if it came to that.”

“Because of Zoe?”

“Because it’s what they do... And because of Zoe.” 

Joey flexed his hands on the steering wheel. “I don’t want to put everyone I care about in danger.”

“We’re already in danger. All of us, every day. We live on a Hellmouth in a world where demons openly operate in the shadows.”

“But you’ll all be targets if I stay.”

“And we won’t be if you leave? You don’t think the same people who would try to hunt you down while you’re living at home won’t try to use us to find out where you went? You don’t think it’ll draw attention to us if you just up and leave? Where are we supposed to say you went? Hogwarts?”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Connor and I talked about it on the ride back.”

“Back?” Joey looked him up and down. “Back from where? Where were you guys anyway?”

Evan’s ears went red. “On a date...”

Joey grinned so hard his face hurt. “How am I just hearing about this now? What-”

“Uh-uh,” Evan interrupted. “I’m revoking your best friend privileges until you promise not to turn yourself in.”

Joey’s grin fell. “That’s part of it.”

“Part of what?”

“I know this has been freaking you out.”

“What-”

“How long have you known about me?” Joey wondered. “A month? Two? You’ve been acting weird for a while.”

“I know,” Evan admitted. “I know. I suck. I had trouble wrapping my mind around it at first and then I just...”

“And now my parents know and they’re talking about sending me away. They think it would be easier if I’m being looked after by the government. They-”

“They’re in shock. And you are too.”

“I am not! I’m handling this calmly and rationally and-”

“You’re disassociating yourself from what’s happening by-”

“You’re using therapy speak on me?” Joey huffed. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to make his brain stop humming.

“Your parents will come around.”

“How can you know that? You’ve met my parents. They’re still not totally onboard with Zoe’s slaying.”

“This is different.”

“How?”

Evan breathed in like he’d been preparing himself for this. “Because it doesn’t matter what you were. Not to me, not to anyone who knows you.”

“It doesn’t matter that I’m an ancient ball of energy disguised as a human?”

“It’s not a disguise!” Evan glanced at him curiously. “You don’t remember anything from those days, do you?”

“What do you mean? Do I remember the dinosaurs or-”

“The dinosaurs?” Evan laughed. “History really isn’t your subject, is it?”

“I’m not that old?”

“Not even close.”

Joey’s lip jutted out as he tried not to pout. He considered Evan’s question. “I have these dreams sometimes, you know. Dreams where I’m soaring in the sky and watching, like, villages being plundered and Lincoln being shot and the Titanic sinking and... I don’t know. Everyone has those, don’t they?”

He bit his lip to keep from laughing. He gave up the act when Evan rolled his eyes.

“You don’t remember anything?” Evan sighed.

“I’ll let you know if I do. Promise.”

“You’ll let me know in person or...”

Joey swallowed dryly. “It would be better for everyone if I left.”

“You really think that?”

Evan didn’t look away. His face was so serious that it made Joey’s stomach sink.

“Well, yeah,” Joey shrugged. “It would be better for the ones who’d notice, that is. Easier, safer. Better, just better.”

“It-”

Joey put up a hand to stop him before he could give whatever rambling speech he had planned. “I appreciate what you’re doing. I’m sure it’s been hard to pretend you still see me as your best friend. I understand why you’ve been distant and I don’t blame you. I probably would’ve felt the same way.”

“I haven’t been distant because of you. Not really anyway. It just... It made me feel pathetic, thinking that my one and only friend was-”

“A ball of energy disguised as a human?”

“Yes, except for the disguised part. You get that you’re actually human, don’t you?”

Joey shrugged again.

Evan looked him in the eye. “Look, it’s like I was trying to say. It doesn’t matter to us, to any of us, including me. It doesn’t matter what you were. It matters who you are now. It matters that you’re an amazing brother and son and best friend. That’s why you have to keep going. You have to keep living. You can’t give up and let yourself be locked away. That’s not fair to you and it’s not fair to us.”

“But what if-”

“What if an angry god comes looking for you? Or a bored rich person wants to auction you off? They’re the ones you really need to watch out for, by the way. They hold these auctions and...” Evan shuddered at the thought. “My mom’s been doing something about that recently. She won’t go into it, but I know she is.”

Joey waited for him to circle back to his point. 

“We don’t know what’s coming, but who does? Isn’t that what makes life exciting?”

Joey was silent for a moment. He tapped his chin and stared out the window. The urge to run was still there, but it was weakening by the second. He lifted his head to catch a glimpse of Evan’s reflection in the mirror. “The therapy’s really helping you, isn’t it?”

“Among other things,” Evan nodded.

“Is Connor one of those things?” Joey smirked. His grin widened when Evan narrowed his eyes. “Can I have my best friend privileges back?”

“That depends. Are you staying?” He continued on before Joey could respond. “For good. Not just until I tell you what’s going on with Connor.”

“If this goes south-”

“It’s a risk we’re willing to take.”

Joey took a breath and made a choice. “Sure. I’ll stay. I mean, what’s life without a few dragons?”


	28. Chapter 28

The buzzing was going to give them away.

The constant, loud, may as well be nails on a chalkboard buzzing.

Connor wondered if his relationship with Evan was secure enough that he could ask him to shut up.

Nicely, of course. He knew he’d have to think of a nice way to ask Evan to stop texting Joey. A nice way that would not cause him to inadvertently hurt or insult his...

Boyfriend? That word made Connor’s face twitch. It made something flip in the pit of his stomach. 

He breathed in sharply and decided to play it safe. He turned on Joey instead. “Why can’t you keep your phone on silent like a normal person?”

“I’m not a normal person,” Joey said in a voice that was so chipper it made Connor roll his eyes.

“Tell Evan to be quiet for a minute then. I think there’s someone out there.”

Joey cheerfully obliged. He said the words as he typed. “Connor says to shut up for a minute.”

He grinned when he looked up. “I left out the Connor part.”

He gave a small bow like he thought he was some kind of benevolent god.

Zoe lowered her phone and crept over to the door. She cracked it open enough that the light from the hallway flooded the garage.

She sighed and closed it as softly as she could manage. “The coast is clear.”

“I hate Thanksgiving,” Connor groaned. “How much longer can this go on?”

“Mom wants to go shopping tomorrow,” Zoe said. “She wants to leave at the crack of dawn.”

Connor raised his eyebrows at that. He resisted the urge to ask for more details. He resisted the urge to ask how things were between his mother and his sister.

He stared at his hands when he felt Zoe watching him. “So, you’re saying she’s going to kick everyone out soon?”

“If she hasn’t already.”

Joey jumped off the box he was perching on. “You want me to go check?”

“No!”

Connor snorted when he realized Zoe had cried out too.

“Jeez,” Joey muttered. “Do you two seriously think Uncle Kevin would try to sell me at one of his auctions? I thought that was just a ruse to make me come in here and hide with you for a bit.”

“I’ll text Kelsey,” Zoe decided. “I’ll ask her where she is.”

Connor tapped his fingers on his phone while he waited. He looked up when Joey’s phone went off again. “Evan?” 

“Jealous?” Joey smirked. He shook his head when he saw Connor’s face. “Jared, actually. He’s been reading a book of spells and-”

Connor caught Zoe’s eye and shuddered. “That sounds like the start of a movie about the apocalypse.”

“Or zombies,” Zoe nodded. “Tell him to put it away or I’m going to send someone over to take it from him.”

Joey frantically started typing a response.

Zoe checked her phone. “Kelsey said she’s waiting by the door with her mom and Josh. Uncle Kevin’s still making the rounds.”

“How many people are still out there?” Connor asked.

“I’ll find out.”

Connor grabbed his phone when he saw a text pop up. He tried not to feel smug when he saw it was from Evan. 

Because there was nothing for him to feel smug about. This wasn’t a competition. It didn’t matter that Evan was texting him now and not Joey.

Just like it didn’t matter that Evan had sent Joey five texts for every one he’d sent Connor.

Best friends before (maybe) boyfriends. That was the way the world worked, wasn’t it?

Connor wasn’t sure and he didn’t know who to ask or what to put in the search bar that wouldn’t just lead him to porn.

There should be a class about these things. A class that taught you about social politics and relationships. A class that taught you how to tell if the guy you were seeing was officially your boyfriend.

That would be so much more useful than learning what’s inside a frog.

“Do you need help?”

Connor instinctively hugged his phone to his chest when he heard Joey’s question. “No...”

Joey’s face lit up as he hopped up on the counter next to Connor. “That’s so cute! You don’t know what to say!”

“It’s not cute,” Connor sputtered. He could feel his face heating up when he realized he hadn’t denied the fact that he didn’t know how to respond to Evan.

Which was ridiculous because it wasn’t like Evan had sent him some kind of brain stumper. He’d said hi and asked if everything was okay.

Connor cursed under his breath when Zoe suddenly snatched his phone from him. She really could move annoyingly fast.

“He’s freaking out now,” Zoe laughed as Connor’s phone exploded with texts.

Connor pulled himself up straight. “What? Why?”

“Because he asked you if we needed help and you didn’t write back.”

“It’s been two minutes!”

“This may be my fault,” Joey muttered. “I may have exaggerated a bit when I asked him not to text me for a few minutes.”

Zoe leaned over to see what Joey had sent. Connor took advantage of the distraction and stole his phone back. 

“You told him we’re holed up in the garage and hiding from a pack of bloodthirsty predators? You didn’t think that would alarm him? No wonder he’s-”

“I didn’t say they were vampires!” Joey yelped. 

“Why say bloodthirsty then?”

“I don’t know,” Joey shrugged. “It just came out that way.”

Zoe checked her phone when it went off. “He’s texting me now. Okay, that’s it. You two do what you want. I’m telling him we’re okay.”

Zoe jumped when her phone buzzed again. “They’re here.”

“The vampires?” Joey gasped.

Zoe rolled her eyes. “Evan... and his mom and Maggie. They’re in the backyard.”

She shook her head and ran to the door. “We have to get out there before our parents see. They’ll freak if they look outside and see people skulking around in the bushes.”

“They’re too drunk to freak out about anything,” Connor said. He followed her into the hall though.

“Mom isn’t drunk. I can guarantee you that.”

“Dad is,” Connor shrugged.

Zoe wrinkled her nose. “He is? Are you sure?”

Connor shrugged again.

He didn’t bother answering her. He didn’t feel like explaining why he thought his father was drunk.

He didn’t feel like explaining that it was easier to think that than it was to think that his father had been sober when they’d talked.

Because the thought of his father getting sentimental in his old age was kind of terrifying.

His father had cornered him after dinner and said they needed to talk. Connor hadn’t been surprised. His mother had pulled the same stunt earlier that week.

He knew they were doing this to all three of their children. He knew they were trying to mend bridges by getting each of them alone and talking to them about the things they thought were bothering them.

His mother had spent a solid fifteen minutes going on about how happy she was that Connor was doing well in school and making friends and getting along with his siblings.

His father had admitted that he didn’t understand him. He’d admitted there were a lot of things he didn’t understand about Connor. 

He’d then said he hoped Connor would have an easier time understanding his son, if he ever had one, but if he didn’t, if he constantly found himself wondering what was going through the boy’s head, he’d understand how his father felt.

That it was hard watching your son make choices you didn’t agree with. It was hard watching him do things you couldn’t wrap your mind around. 

But it was even harder to feel like you were barely even a footnote in the boy’s life.

And then he’d said he wanted that to change.

Drunkenly said he wanted that to change because what other explanation was there?

None, unless Joey had slipped some kind of gooey, happiness potion in everyone’s drinks.

Which was actually very possible since Connor was pretty sure he’d mumbled something that his father had taken as an affirmative answer.

At least he wasn’t feeling the need to hug his siblings and gush that he loved them.

At least he didn’t feel the need to do that to Evan when he saw him standing by the front door.

He came to a stop and looked at Zoe like she must know how Evan and his mother had gone from skulking around the backyard to standing in the foyer.

She shrugged and went to stand next to Joey, who had somehow slipped past them and was grinning like a cat who’d caught a canary.

It took Connor a second to catch onto what Joey was saying.

He was telling their parents that Evan and his mom had stopped by because they’d been in the neighborhood.

And he was wondering if Evan could spend the night.

Joey’s grin turned positively evil when his eyes landed on Connor.

“Don’t worry,” Joey beamed. “Evan won’t be leaving my room. There will be no hanky-panky under my watch.”

Connor squeezed his eyes shut.

He wondered if all little brothers were this annoying or just his.


	29. Chapter 29

“I’m telling you there’s got to be at least one sacrifice going on some-”

Fiona jumped back so quickly that she knocked Sam into a headstone. 

Which caused Zoe to lose her balance and come dangerously close to colliding with a tree.

Zoe rubbed her eyes and blinked as the spots bounced around in front of her. She shook her head and tried to focus. “What was that?”

She glanced at her friends and saw they were just as confused as she was. They all turned to look in the direction of the light.

It was gone. The light was gone. The cemetery was dark again.

Dark but not empty.

Alana Beck was standing by the gates, smiling grimly while she clutched Charmaine Tyson’s arm. 

“Don’t worry,” Alana called when she spotted the Slayers. “I’ve got this one.”

And then they were gone.

Not gone-gone. They didn’t vanish the way they’d come. 

They walked out of the cemetery and started strolling down the street. 

Zoe snorted when she heard Alana lecture Charmaine about the dangers of creating parallel universes when you were drunk. Which made Charmaine say she hadn’t been drunk. Angry and vengeful but not drunk.

Zoe sighed to herself. “Do you ever think there are things going on in this town that we don’t know about?”

Sam and Fiona looked at her like she was crazy. So crazy that Zoe immediately dropped her gaze. “Right. Stupid question.”

And it was a stupid question.

There were obviously things going on that they weren’t aware of. Things that explained why Candy Winters kept popping into town. Things that explained why the Initiative wasn’t leaving.

People were fighting battles and going through things that no one else knew about. Things that no one dared to talk about.

Zoe wondered if her friends were dealing with anything like that. 

She shook her head. Of course, they were. Everyone had their own wars to wage.

She wondered what Sam and Fiona were dealing with. She wondered if they were secretly protecting members of their families from beings that wanted to find them and use them to destroy the world.

She wasn’t curious enough to ask.

“Do you think we should go after them?” Sam wondered.

“Alana said she’s got this,” Zoe said uncertainly.

“It’s like I was saying,” Fiona huffed. “Valentine’s Day. It’s nuts, man.”


	30. Chapter 30

Evan had heard Jared say a lot of questionable things over the years.

Jokes, mostly. Off-color jokes, crude jokes, jokes at Evan’s expense.

Jokes that went over Evan’s head or that he pretended went over his head because it was safer that way.

He didn’t think Jared was joking this time though. That was the scary part. He was almost positive that Jared was genuinely upset no one had blown up the school during their graduation ceremony.

He opened his mouth to try to get to the bottom of that, but Connor beat him to it.

“How much did you bet?” Connor smirked.

Evan’s mouth dropped open as Jared spun around to glare at Connor.

“This isn’t funny!” Jared cried. “I can’t believe we’re all standing out here, waiting for our families to come find us. I thought someone would destroy the school for sure.”

Evan shook his head as Jared continued to grumble under his breath.

He’d known this was a thing. It was part of their town’s history. Every so many years, something happened at graduation (or before, sometimes before) that ended up destroying part of the school.

It was almost always an exaggeration to say the whole school had been blown up. That had only happened once.

Evan knew that every senior class approached graduation warily. He knew they all wondered if their year was going to be one of _those_ years.

He hadn’t worried about that though. He’d been reasonably certain he would’ve heard something if there was some kind of nefarious scheme going on.

He probably should’ve shared that insight with Jared.

It wasn’t like Jared had asked though.

So, really, he only had himself to blame if he’d gone and made a bet about what state the school would be in at the end of the ceremony.

“I bet something’s going to happen next year,” Connor said thoughtfully. 

“Well, that won’t do me any good now, will it?” Jared huffed. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at the sky like he was hoping it was about to start raining fire.

“Maybe you can talk to your bookie and switch it to next year. Double or nothing.”

Jared chewed his lip. He spun around to glare at Evan. To glare at him like he was trying to see into Evan’s soul. “What do you think? Is something going to happen next year?”

Evan didn’t know what to say.

“The twins will be graduating next year,” Connor reminded him.

Evan nodded slowly.

That changed things. That definitely increased the odds that something would happen next year. 

Something involving Joey, probably. Some god would come sniffing around or there’d be a massive reward for anyone who could find the Key or...

Evan took a breath when he realized Jared was tapping his wrist impatiently.

“We don’t have all day,” Jared sighed.

“You’re not even wearing a watch,” Evan pointed out.

“So?”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Next year’s a safe bet.”

Jared nodded solemnly. “I’m holding you to that. If nothing happens next year, I’m going to show up at your door and...”

Jared shook his head dazedly. “Next year. Wow. That’s, like, a year away. Who knows where we’ll be then? We’ll be done with our first year of college. We’ll be...”

Jared let out a low whistle and strode away with his head still in the clouds.

Evan smiled when he felt Connor’s hand slip into his.

He knew what Connor was thinking. He knew Connor was wondering what he was thinking. He knew Connor was wondering if he was panicking about what the next year would bring.

Because there were so many things up in the air.

He knew where he was going to college, of course. He knew Connor was going with him.

Well, not with him-with him. It had just worked out that way.

They were just a couple who happened to decide to attend the same school.

Part of him, the annoying nagging part in the back of his brain, wondered how long that statement would hold true.

Would they still be together in a year? Would they still be attending the same school? 

Maybe they’d break up. Maybe they wouldn’t.

Maybe Connor would decide higher education really wasn’t for him. He’d alluded to that a number of times.

Maybe Evan would decide the science program wasn’t a good match for him and he should’ve gone with one of his other options.

Maybe he’d decide science wasn’t for him. Maybe he’d decide to major in math or English or...

There were so many options it made him dizzy just thinking about it.

Would he still consider Joey his best friend? Would Joey still consider him his best friend?

Would he be wandering around the courtyard in a year, looking for Joey so he could congratulate him on his graduation?

Would there even be a courtyard for them to wander around?

Maybe someone really would blow up the school next year. It had been almost thirty years since the last time the building was totally destroyed. It was probably about time for it to happen again.

Or maybe not. There was no way of knowing what was going to happen until it happened. 

But happen it would.

Because that was the thing about life. It kept going, even when it was hard. Even when it was weird and scary and sad.

It kept going.

And that...

Well, that was kind of amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s a wrap.
> 
> As always, thank you to everyone who has been reading this! It’s always encouraging to check my stats page and see the numbers go up. Comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated. (Even if my brain’s still not showing any signs of letting me ease up on my weird [but crazy productive] blinders on, tunnel vision writing method... It will one of these days and I really will get around to reading all the comments for all my stories.)
> 
> This may or may not be it for this universe. I have a lot of leftover ideas that got tossed into the ‘maybe later’ pile in my head, but I don’t think I have the creative energy to do something with them right now.
> 
> The eccentric side of my brain keeps trying to convince the sensible side that I should write a semi- _Angel_ inspired sequel/spin-off. The sensible side is refusing to budge at this point, so that’s on the back burner and may never happen.
> 
> If it does, then it means the eccentric side convinced the sensible side that I simply must write something where one of the characters gets turned into a puppet.


End file.
